My wife has a MKIV 22/45 Lite Pistol and lately it’s been having feeding issues. Occasionally the round being cycled into the gun will nose up and over the chamber and get smashed by the bolt. CCI Mini Mags 36gr. This requires removing the magazine to clear sometimes but replacing that same magazine into the gun and it runs fine.

I shot it a bunch yesterday indoors and no issues. Cleaned it and lubed it. I think there is one bad magazine but we didn’t use it today. It was cool today, 40* or so and breezy. I used ALG Go Juice on all the 22’s. It ran fine last weekend in colder weather and I used less ube today.

It’s been working fine with the Volquartsen kit, comp and red dot for me other than on magazine.

Before I start putting it back to stock for testing, any suggestions? My stock MKII Competition Target didn’t hiccup once same cleaning and lube. My highly modified 10/22 had one or two bobbles each stage that were cleared with cycling the bolt. The MP 15-22 had one or two issues with nose up feeding issues as well, it had an ALG Trigger at 4.5lbs.

All that to say, it leads me to believe a modification has caused the issue but in the last two outings none had any issues. Since two weeks ago I’ve only added a Vortex Venom to the MKIV and it ran fine, the MP 15-22 ran fine for a a couple hundred rounds and no changes since, and the 10/22 was the same. The only other thing is a switch to ALG Lube over the Lucas Extreme that I was using, the ALG seemed thinner and better for colder weather.

Mods or oil?

EDIT: Ammo then oil as the culprit.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Riley,

I had a Mark III Hunter that jammed more often then I thought was acceptable and I thought it was due to the loaded chamber indicator, since it contacted the round. I got tired of the magazine safety and how much more it complicated takedown.

I found a Mark II Competition slab side on clearance, bought it, and got rid of the Mark III. It has been more reliable. It has a Volquartsen trigger kit (around 2 lbs) and it's a keeper.

Mark pistols seem to function best with round nose 40 grain high velocity ammo. The subsonic target ammo (CCI Standard mostly) that works best in my S&W 41 and Sig/Hammerli Trailsides is a bit weak in the Mark II. So I would recommend trying 40 grain CCI mini mags and see if they cycle better.

Were the issues only when your wife was shooting it? She may have been limp wristing the Ruger.

Yes, her and another new shooter. I thought about that but I wasn’t sure it could happen with a 22 so I kind of dismissed it. It’s a super light gun, especially compared to my MKII slab side. She’s pretty new.

Would the compensator help or hinder? It makes a difference in recoil, again I was skeptical as it’s a 22 I didn’t think it would much difference.

I did some quick measuring of some 22 LR ammo I have. Five of each and also loaded them in a mag to see. A very small sample obviously, but if the averages work out, the RN solids are longer and closer to the feed ramp when in the magazine than the HP. Oddly, I seem to remember the Federal GameShocks working just fine. They are a middle length and maybe the HP is formed better. Further testing to follow, including the suspect magazine.

CCI Mini Mag 36gr HP
Muzzle Energy 127 ft-lbs
Muzzle Velocity 1260 ft/sec
.9605
.9690
.9600
.9560
.9620
Avg, .9615

Federal GameShock 38gr HP
Muzzle Energy 134 ft-lbs
Muzzle Velocity 1260 ft/sec
.9680
.9660
.9705
.9695
.9700
Avg, .9688

CCI Mini Mag 40gr RN
Muzzle Energy 135 ft-lbs
Muzzle Velocity 1235 ft/sec
.9845
.9760
.9875
.9810
.9815
Avg, .9821

Between the length and the listed ME, I’m excited to test the 40gr solids. I think I’m going to run the MiniMag HP until I have an issue and then switch to see. I’m hoping the weather holds similar as well but I may have to go to the indoor range.

On .22, do NOT slam the magazine in or have the bolt closed. Due to the soft shell casing, when you slam the mag in, the staggered formation will demt the first 3 to 5 rounds...sometimes significantly. That will cause malfunctions. Also, the Ruger magazine do need to have you thumb up the first round to point at a proper angle or it will have issues. There is a youtube video by Tandemkross that help modify the mags to be more reliable.

Yep, no more slamming or smacking.

I cleaned and lubed the guns very lightly, almost none. I fired a few hundred rounds of 36gr CCI Mini Mags to dirty the gun and test. I had a few issues feeding again even making sure the bullet was tip up, bolt open when loading and not smacking the mag in. Generally the issues are in the middle of the mag and not the first round unless loading bolt closed.

After 200 rounds, I started with the Federal GameShock 38gr HP. No issues no matter how I loaded. Bullet not tip up, closed bolt loading, seating the mag firmly. 100rds with no issues.

Then the 40gr MiniMag round nose. Same as the Federal, no issues and method of loading didn’t matter. 100rds trouble free.

Lastly was the 40gr AR Tactical, 40gr RN and 1200fps compared to the MiniMag 1265fps. Again, no issues after 100rds.

I tried to hold the pistol as loose as I could and still pull the trigger safely. Pretty much thumb and middle finger on the grip. Also, the suspect mag worked fine with the longer round nose.

The same test was completed with MP15-22 with the same results. 200 rds to dirty it a little. The occasional jam with the 36gr MiniMags that required dropping the magazine and the round point up and stuck in the mag with a big dent. Once or twice nose into the feed ramp.

One issue of the bolt closing on an empty chamber with the Federal, but a quick cycle of the bolt and it was good. No other issues, even with the suspect mag.

After at least 400rds today with minimal lube, the guns run fine. Of course it was warmer today but I’m pretty certain that the guns don’t feed the shorter 36gr HP that well. My MKII feeds them just fine so I’ll use them up and get the round nose from now on.

For our use, it’s important to be able to load with a closed bolt as the strings of fire usually leave rounds in the mag and one in the mag. Not a deal breaker but better.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.

If you can isolate it to a single magazine, that may be a contributing factor. On one of my Mark III pistols I had a similar issue with a single factory mag and a Mec-Gar replacement magazine. It looked like the magazine spring was a bit weak on those mags and the feed lips were out of spec, allowing a round to slip nose up during the loading sequence. I measured the differences with digital calipers and tweaked the feed lips slightly on those mags to match the exact dimensions of my other working mags and the problems stopped. As you noted, the OAL of .22lr ammo can vary and exacerbate these issues.

I had the same problem with mine. I mentioned it to Ruger when I sent it in for the recall. Whatever they did fixed it. Feeds 100% and holds open on last round every time now.

It’s back....

Ugh. Every mag had a failure to feed on the second or third round, ran fine each round before and after. I noticed a drag in raising rounds up when loading if there was only 7 or 8 rounds but smooth before and after. I did a field clean and dry but no go.

Now I’m tuning the mags as per a TandemKross video. Polished the raceway and plunger and rounded the 90* corners on the feed lips. Need a polish still probably. They are a lot smoother now but I won’t know until the weekend and can shoot again.