New Mk III Hunter Firing Pin Stop Pin

mvarner · Post by **mvarner** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:22 pm

I field stripped my new Mk III to install a new VQ sear and trigger using the manual and this site's step by step guide. However, when I was reassembling I noticed that the firing pin stop pin appeared to be missing from my bolt on first glance. The picture on this site shows a solid pin however I can see through my bolt but it appears that a hollow pin is in there. Has the pin changed to this style or did I lose it somewhere? Help!
Matt

boomer47 · Post by **boomer47** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:34 pm

I've never heard of a hollow pin. If the firing pin will come out of the bolt there is no pin in there holding it in.
Looks like a rug sweeping or a call to Ruger for a new pin.

mvarner · Post by **mvarner** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 9:09 pm

The firing pin will not come out and if I flip the bolt over and look at the little cut out where the stop pin goes through, it is solid. The hollow pin looks kind of mushroomed on the ends to prevent removal. Has anyone had their stop pin out to see if it looked like this.
http://www.angelfire.com/super2/mvarner ... mate_1022/

boomer47 · Post by **boomer47** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:28 pm

I can't really see anything about the pin in your pics.
I don't think Ruger would put a hollow pin in as a firing pin stop. Seems that just a little dry firing would trash one when there are so many cases of a bent solid pin due to dry firing.
You said it is a new pistol so I'd call Ruger and see what they have to say about it.
Bullseye will be along shortly and will have a better handle on the problem.

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 2:37 am

I have learned that Ruger has recently started using hollow roll pins in the bolts for the firing pin stop pin to prevent the pin from slipping out of the pin hole. I don't know how long they'll stay with this modification, since the durability of roll pins is somewhat questionable. If you make a roll pin too soft, they'll crush from repeated hits from the firing pin. Make them too hard, and they'll snap from the pressure.

R,
Bullseye

bearandoldman · Post by **bearandoldman** » Thu Feb 15, 2007 9:14 am

Bullseye wrote:I have learned that Ruger has recently started using hollow roll pins in the bolts for the firing pin stop pin to prevent the pin from slipping out of the pin hole. I don't know how long they'll stay with this modification, since the durability of roll pins is somewhat questionable. If you make a roll pin too soft, they'll crush from repeated hits from the firing pin. Make them too hard, and they'll snap from the pressure.

R,
Bullseye

They are not the strongest, see a lot of the larger ones used in the lawn and garden equipment I used to work on, but being larger and for more strength they were looked like roll pin iin a roll pi. Kind of a double wall for more shear strength. I have a MarkII 22/45 coming, got a rain check on a good by from Gander Mountain the 8th of Devember but have not recieved any notification of delivery yet. Kind of think they really oversold on a loos leader and will try to ignore their way out of it.

RugersGR8 · Post by **RugersGR8** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:43 am

I just talked to Ruger last Friday about the firing pin stops. My new 22/45 had the roll pin in it. Ruger said that they started using the roll pins because too many people were leaving them out when they reassembled their guns. Thus when they racked the bolt back and pulled the trigger, the firing pin peened the top of the firing chamber and the gun had to be returned for repair and/or replacement. I got the feeling that since they started using the roll pins, the repair and/or replacement may be coming to an end(just my opinion). Most people will clean the entire bolt by submersion in a cleaning solvent of some kind rather than go through the hassle of driving out the roll pin.

Post by **Bullseye** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:00 am

That may be great for the roll pin installation but it sure makes it more of a chore to inspect the firing pin rebound spring. Those springs do have a tendency to break or kink, and checking them periodically is a good idea. The solid pins fit loosely and had a tendency to drop out of the bolt during installation. This is one way how so many breech faces got dented, the pin's departure from the bolt would go unnoticed.

R,
Bullseye

RugersGR8 · Post by **RugersGR8** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:38 pm

I also had the concerns about checking the firing pin return spring as well. But I have been shooting MKI's, II's and III's for over 35 years now and making sure that the firing pin stop is in place before reassembly is my first priority. I prefer to use the solid pins for ease of dissassembly and checking the FP return spring.

My only other suggestion to the problem would be to use a 1/8" roll pin punch to correctly remove the roll pin from the bolt. However, you may run into the same problem that I did in that my roll pin punch was slightly oversized for the hole in the bolt. I had to chuck the punch in an electric drill and use some fine emery cloth to remove just enough metal until the punch could just pass through the hole in the bolt.

Post by **Bullseye** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:58 pm

I've done the same in the past. Plus, I've used 1/8" drill bit shanks as a substitute for the roll pins when I want a solid one.

R,
Bullseye