Cracking issues with Mk. 3's?

[His lordship.]

I own two Mk. 3 Rugers, one I got in 2007, seems fine, and gets some workouts at the range.  And a new stainless 22/45 that I hope to use this week for it's trial run. 

Read on another forum of 1 guy with cracking of the tube receiver on the Mk. 3 due to the loaded indicator tab location weakening the gun.  I have never heard of that before, it must be rare.  I wonder if it was simply a bad lot of them leaving the factory?  Ruger did remedy the problem with the owners, gotta love good customer service!    I did the magnet test on my new 22/45 stainless this morning and the tube receiver is not as magnetic as the barrel, different metals for sure.  I also don't hear the gripes about the Mk. 3's that were more common a few years ago, jamming, etc.  My Mk. 3 is more reliable than my Mk. 2, but it did make me sweat abit when I bought my first Mk. 3.

Anyone else know of cracking tubes on their Mk. 3's?

Thanks.

[teddy12b]

I've got just over 2000rds through my mark III target and haven't had any cracking problems.  I've never heard of that before either.  When I first got it, it did have some problems though.  Somewhere there was a rough spot, or some crud in the gun that was causing the trigger not to reset after a fired round.  A good whack on the rear of it with a rubber mallet, or smacking it against a pallet on the gun range (unloaded of course) would get it working right.  I had cleaned that gun every way possible after every trip and it still had some issues at first.  After a while it must have dislodged the crud, or smoothed out the rough spot, because I haven't had any problems with it after the first 600 rounds or so.  It's a sweet shooter now.

[irold]

I've got a MK 3 , probably have around 1500 rounds through it. Its blued, 5 1/2 bull barrel. Shoots good.  It will stove pipe every now and again.  I've never really tried any ammo cept the Federal HPs.  Can get them in the 550 bulk packs from the local W-Mart. Maybe a different brand of ammo would solve my stove-pipe problem.

 Never really heard of the cracking problems you speak of.  I did a lot of research before I bought....I was also looking at the Buckmark.....the Ruger fit me better and felt better.  Anyway no one ever mentioned, nor did I read anything about the Ruger cracking.

regards irold

[His lordship.]

I read further on it and the story is suspicious.  The guns were owned by a shooting range and used as rentals, there were several of them that had the problem at the same place and time.  It seems that somebody just wanted new guns for free, or the guns were a bad lot.  Otherwise this issue is not a problem.

I think it would be an interesting job at Ruger to see the occasional gun come in that needed attention.  In a prior catalog they had one guy send in a Ruger Mk. 2 that had been lost on a river trip, sat on the bottom for around 20 years.  It was found again, all rusty, but the thing actually did shoot after being given a good oiling.  Ruger acquired the pistol and used it for the promotion of how their guns will keep on ticking even after sitting in water and mud for years.

[teddy12b]

I think it would be an interesting job at Ruger to see the occasional gun come in that needed attention. 

LOL, I think here lately they've been getting a pretty good percentage of what they put out the door back.  Their little kel-tec knock off 380 had a recal, along with the SR9's, and there's a lot of guys sending back SR556's because of buffer tube wear and cam pin damage.  Don't get me wrong, I love ruger but they need to stick with what they do well like the 10-22, mark series pistols and revolvers.

[His lordship.]

Wow, I did not know about the SR556 being a problem, I have only seen one at the range, figured the high cost was the reason for the rarity.  I recently traded a SR-9 pistol due to the awful trigger pull (8 lbs).  All their new stuff makes me very leery, so bought a Glock 26 for my upcoming concealed carry license instead of the Kel-tec.. 

At this time I am only buying Rugers that were the product of ol' William B. Ruger himself.