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Thread: .22 LR Ammo Choices for Ruger Mark III?

  1. #1
    Site Supporter walker2713's Avatar
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    .22 LR Ammo Choices for Ruger Mark III?

    I've put a red dot sight on my Mark III and took it to the range today to shoot some steel...preparing to shoot it in a match in a couple of weeks.

    The gun was clean, I'd put Wolfe +10 springs in my nine mags, and was shooting Federal Auto-Match. There were malfunctions for almost every mag I shot....ranging from FTE, FT go into battery, rounds loading at an angle such that there was a crease in the side of the case.

    I don't believe the mags are the problem...what about the ammo? I've got a couple of bricks of Federal HV Match rounds, but want to try some other loads as well.

    Suggestions?

    Thanks,

    George
    Gun Free Zones Aren’t an Inhibition….they’re an Invitation.

  2. #2
    Site Supporter farscott's Avatar
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    Try some CCI Standard Velocity. It is a very consistent and relatively inexpensive round that is suitable for informal matches. If your Ruger Mark III does not cycle properly with that ammo, I would start with a brand new unmolested factory magazine.

  3. #3
    CCI MiniMag solids are my favorite load in my Mk II.
    CCI standard velocity have also worked well, but I found that the magazines would get gummed up with the bullet lube.

  4. #4
    Site Supporter Odin Bravo One's Avatar
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    Most rimfire match ammo is loaded to rather humble pressures and velocities to achieve consistency and repeatability. Historically, rimfire matches didn't use a ton of autos, and/or the objective was max accuracy versus how fast you could knock down targets. I've also found "match" specs on rimfires to be quite generous, and what works for one specimen doesn't automatically translate to being good for the entire product line. Rimfires are cheap to produce and are produced cheaply, leaving a lot of room for variation.

    I love .22's. Love them. And I have a ton. I spent years and thousands of dollars trying to find the magic bullet that worked reliably in them all, for all my uses. Sad reality is that it just doesn't work that way.

    Things I've found that help my .22 autos run:

    Light weight lubricant, such as mineral oil or RemOil. I'd never recommend RemOil for any other gun, but it does work decent for rimfires. Most other firearms lubricants are great for other guns, but suck for rimfires.
    Keeping them clean. (I scrub the chamber/wipe down the action every 100 rounds or so and punch the barrel and strip/relube whenever I feel the gun shooting sluggish or the groups are going to shit)
    Properly weighted springs
    Quality (not what's on sale) ammunition that has proven to work in the gun.

    I know now what each gun likes, and keep plenty on hand. It's a pain in the ass, and I ended up writing the name of each gun on the damn box of ammo it's best used in. Got to that point by buying a variety of recommended ammo, and putting a hundred rounds thru each gun while taking notes.

    CCI SSHPs work well in most of my guns for function, and have enough ass to anchors a decent sized rat, but aren't great for accuracy.
    GemTech SS Solids had proven the most reliable in suppressed pistols, but give up the ass of the HP CCIs.
    Lapua Match 40 gr lead solid are the most accurate in my guns built for accuracy, but I have more malfunctions in the autos than I'd like.
    CCI standard velocity run most everything I have, but accuracy is spotty in some guns.
    CCI MiniMags run everything I own, but again, accuracy is spotty gun to gun.

    I've developed a fondness for CCI over the years because of their consistency along their product line. I have a decent expectation of the performance from one lot to the next in the event I can't afford to buy as much as I'd like when I run low.

    The more expensive match loads aren't necessarily better, but I've found the cheap stuff isn't worth what you paid for it. Federal loads have performed ok, but I've not had as positive results across the line of rimfire that I have from CCI.

    Your best bet is to buy some sample quantities of what's already been recommended, and starting with a clean/lubed gun, run them each thru your gun until you find the one the gun seems to like best, then buy as much as you can afford. I sucker in a handful of buddies and go straight to the source for quantity discounts. It hurts to fork out that amount of cash for plinker ammo, but it tends to last me for years, and you pay up front then wait. Last time I did this was during the ammo crisis of the early 20teens, and from payment to delivery, the cost of rimfire doubled. I'm still shooting from that stash and will be for another year or more.

    Might not be the answer for you, but buy a case or two at a minimum. You're going to shoot it up eventually, and if you don't, ammo retains resale value better than any other commodity in the industry.......
    Last edited by Odin Bravo One; 04-15-2017 at 10:16 AM.
    You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.

  5. #5
    Deadeye Dick Clusterfrack's Avatar
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    I've had the exact same problem. Here's my solution:

    Polish the bolt, feed ramp, and magazine lips & follower channel. This took me about an hour using a polishing cone and a Dremel. I'm using Weaponshield oil. No malfunctions with any ammo afterward.
    "You can never have too many knives." --Joe Ambercrombie
    Shabbat shalom, motherf***ers! --Mordechai Jefferson Carver

  6. #6
    Glock Collective Assimile Suvorov's Avatar
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    Escapee from the SF Bay Area now living on the Front Range of Colorado.
    Odd,

    My Ruger MkII seems to be the one .22LR pistol that eats just about everything I feed it. My Sig Mosquito on the other hand.....

    I will concur that MiniMags seem to be the go to round whenever a function is an issue.

    But I have a question - did you have these problems before you went to the +10 magazine springs? With .22LRs there isn't a lot of bolt mass or recoil to drive the bolt and it seems to me that increased drag on the bolt as a result of the magazine springs (something that wouldn't be an issue with more stout cartridges) may be causing more harm than good? Maybe try a magazine with the older springs?
    Last edited by Suvorov; 04-15-2017 at 11:18 AM.

  7. #7
    This might be worth a try on one magazine for a test:
    http://xavierthoughts.blogspot.com/2...ine-tweak.html

  8. #8
    Site Supporter walker2713's Avatar
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    Thanks, guys, for some great feedback....you've given me some ideas to check out.

    George
    Gun Free Zones Aren’t an Inhibition….they’re an Invitation.

  9. #9
    I'll be interested to see how things work out. I've been considering a Ruger .22 semi-auto forever. But threads like this make me wanna just stick to my .22 revolvers. I don't have the time to dedicate to figuring out what a particular .22 pistol needs in order to run right. Am I being too pessimistic? Are they usually good-to-go ?
    Last edited by SamAdams; 04-18-2017 at 05:46 PM.

  10. #10
    In my limited experience, the folks who buy semi-auto .22s because they want to shoot a *lot* often buy the cheapest ammo they can find. That can cause problems.

    A .22 will probably never be as reliable as a good centerfire pistol, but they're a ton of fun. Shooting a Steel Challenge match with my Ruger with a red dot put a huge grin on my face.

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