First thing I'd do is watch the video at Tandemkross on how to tune your magazines.

Next. I'd order an Extended Mag Release from Volquaratsen. It saved my problems. Your magazines aren't sitting all the way up in the grip. Try holding the bottom of the magazine up further and see it that helps.

edited because I said slide release and meant Mag.

 

First thing I'd do is watch the video at Tandemkross on how to tune your magazines.

Next. I'd order an Extended Slide Release from Volquaratsen. It saved my problems. Your magazines aren't sitting all the way up in the grip. Try holding the bottom of the magazine up further and see it that helps.

Yes I have watched the Tandemkross video, and also found the info on wirthweinguns.com. Some reallgood info on tuning there!

I don’t understand how the extended slide release lever would help though…

Also it seems to me that my mags are riding too high as the spent case appears to hit the feed lip when manually cycling rounds.

 

I'd suggest not using Federal Automatch. It messes up and stovepipes all of my MK IVs and my SW MP22cs. Sometimes it jumps the spring off the bolt on the MK4s. It's just crap ammo. The bullets literally wobble in the brass. The quality is crap. It is truely Walmart ammo. I have no issues with CCI. I have shot standard, ar, minimag (target and varmit), quiets, semi-auto quiets, subsonic. Even aguila calibri work.

 

I do agree the automatch isn't great ammo. Weird though I’ve always had good luck with it. My M&P15-22 and FN502 run it without issue. That said I have no problem not using in the MKIV. The minimags worked so well the first time using it. I don’t understand why I had issues with the minimags today when trying a bunch of different brands.

 

I wonder if azshooter meant the extended mag release? I've had issues with the mag release.

 

Call Ruger get shipping label and have them fix it.i never experience any of those problems with mine.hyper velocity gets the best accuracy in mine. I use this one

 

Have you tuned your mags?
Tried other mags?

 

Have you tuned your mags?
Tried other mags?

Working on it now, I’m not sure about rounding the front of the rear feed lips though. Some say to do it, others not to.

 

Long shot but have you had anyone else shoot the gun? Not a high recoil gun and I've probably had 10-12 people shoot my Mark IV Lite without a single stovepipe but our Glock 42 (I recognize it's an entirely different type of gun) has stovepipes with about every third person. Just a thought to see if the problem is present for a different shooter.

 

I spent last night tuning the 2 magazines that I have. Won’t have a chance to try them until Sunday. If tuning the mags didn’t change anything I will call Ruger.

 

Some additional information I found is that there should be a slight(1/16”) gap between the ejector and the left rear magazine feedlip. On mine they are touching. If there should indeed be a gap it would suggest that the magazines are actually sitting a bit too high into the receiver. The ejector appears to be in the correct position, in relation to the bolt it sits high and towards the center of the bolt.

Maybe the magazine release button is slightly out of spec? Causing the magazines to sit slightly tilted. The left rear feedlip is higher than the right rear feedlip when fully seated. This is true for both magazines I have.

looking closely when manually cycling rounds the rim of the spent case makes contact with the rear left feedlip when the bolt is moving back. It clears the right rear feedlip by about a 1/16”.

it seems I got a pistol with tight tolerances and I’m hoping with just a few slight adjustments I can get the spent case to clear the mag feedlip so it will eject correctly.

 

I had put a VQ barrel on my mark 4 and the bolt would just pass over the next round not picking it up. Volquartsen sent an extended magazine release and it fixed the issue. That shows it does raise the magazine in the gun. The other feeding issues I had but could not tune it out was fixed by adding magazine buttons to my mags from volquartsen. I had chucked up the stock buttons in my dremmel to polish where the mag rubs it but still had issues. The VQ buttons are smoother and fixed all of my issues. I think Tandemkross is making buttons now also.

 

mine is not a 22/45 and it appears Volquartsen only makes the extended mag release for the 22/45

 

It's been my experience that most causes for stove piping (in particular) are mag related. From what you've said in Posts 1 and 13, it does sound like your mag may be sitting high for some reason, My thought would be if it continues with both mags, it's a issue with the mag position (or release.) If it does it with only one mag then it's in the mag. I don't have my MK IV's handy right now so can't say for sure. Maybe it's worth watching some You tube videos on installing a mag release and see if anything jumps out at you.


p.s. so you have not changed anything on the gun ( trigger kits? hammer bushings? etc) or taken it apart to piece level?

 

so you have not changed anything on the gun ( trigger kits? hammer bushings? etc) or taken it apart to piece level?

No only swapped out the bolt to one with VQ extractor and firing pin. Have not taken it apart exceptfor normal cleaning and I did remove the grips to check the mag release and the magwell.
The magazine release doesn’t look obviously out of spec.

 

Just got back from the range and I’m happy to report I fired 200 rounds without any stovepipes or malfunctions of any kind!

successfully used:
50 minimags
50 cci std velocity
50 cci blazer
50 tippmann(cant remember what its called but its high velocity 40 gr copper plated)

I do believe that my mags sit just a few thousandths too high. The problem was both magazines.


what I did was:

install Volquartsen extractor( this did not solve my issue)

deburr/smooth feedlips
Set the width of the REAR feedlips to:
front: .190 (both mags were .170-.172)
Rear: .210 (both maga were .190-.192)

I did have to remove a few thousandths off of the TOP of the left rear feedlip on both magazines . Just the top of it, until the spent case would clear it and that also made a slight gap between the ejector and the left rear feedlip(they were touching).

The spent case was definitely hitting the left rear feed lip and knocking it loose prematurely. I could manually cycle rounds and see this happening.

I was very careful while removing material from the top of the feedlip. Making a few passes at a time with 600 grit sandpaper. Then cleaning it off and putting it in and testing it. It took forever but I did not want to remove too much material. I did it all by hand no dremel was used.


The ultimate issue may be the magazine release or possibly the grip frame cutouts for the magazine release. Either could potentially be out of spec. Im debating whether to get a replacement mag release to try.

 

Nice! Ruger customer service is pretty good. If you call them they may send you out a new mag release (and maybe even a mag) for troubleshooting.

 

Another update

had a chance to get to the range again today.
NW Pennsylvania COLD high was 28F.

The only issue I had was after 300 rounds I had to take the mags apart and clean them. Rounds were starting to drag and was not loading the next round.
wax build up in the magazines that was kinda frozen definitely caused it. I cleaned both mags out and was back in business.

A big surprise was how great Federal Automatch shot. Went thru a whole box of 325 rounds without any problems!

Total was just under 600 rounds

325 Federal auto match
100 mini mags
50 cci blazer
50 aguila super extra
50 norma tac22
the norma is super waxy and I tried it just before the mags started hanging up. Definitely not a good round for below freezing temps.
Otherwise it was another fantastic day and I am really loving this pistol!!

 

Try putting a hand warmer in your bag for your ammo and magazines. I have found that it helps during cold weather.

 

Great post. Thanks for the excellent information. Luckily, I did not experience the same the first time I used my Mark IV Hunter.

 

Since tuning the mags, I have also installed an Apex trigger kit and a Holosun 407C X2 green dot sight.
Fantastic pistol now. Have shot a couple thousand rounds with no issues. An absolute tack driver and functions perfectly!

I also got a 3rd magazine from Ruger and did the same tuning to it. I have found that pretty much any ammo works just fine now too!

 

I have been having stovepipes and failure to feed the next round. I thought it was ammo but I have narrowed it down to a magazine. Looking at the magazine on the button side, the slot on the button side is concave in towards the spring causing the follower to drag. Take a look at yours and move the follower from the bottom of the magazine with the magazine disassembled pushing the follower with the spring by hand if yours is affected you will feel it drag. I hope this helps some folks.

 

As a strong promoter of the Ruger Mk-series pistols and competitive shooter I have developed a check list to work from when one of these handguns are acting up. Sorry about the length of this post. I started with a more abbreviated version but did not think it was clear enough.
1. Is the handgun dirty? If so clean it.
2. Is it the ammo? As can be seen from the message history of this forum, ammo plays a role in accuracy and reliability. Good ammo but shooting in winter conditions create its own issues. The gun powder loses it energy with colder temperatures. I keep my magazines in my pockets to help address this issue. In my many conversations with Ruger over the years, I was told that Mk-series handguns were tuned and work best around the Mini Mag power factor or equivalent cartridge. This does not mean the standard velocity will not work in your Ruger. I have a number of Ruger Mk-series pistols, and each has its own nuanced ammo likes and dislikes, but in general they tend to shoot better with a cartridge with more power than less power. Ammo tests are the only way to sort this out for your handgun. 40 grain CCI Mini Mag or std velocity, Blazer, and Federal are some of my go to ammo choices for my Rugers in the collective. There are many more that will work, but I find these are easy and readily available in 5000 round case purchases.
3. Are there maintenance parts that need attention? Most shooter do not know that your springs are a possible maintenance item. On the Ruger Mk-series pistols the extractor spring, the magazine spring are the two most probable wearables when a Ruger acts up. Problems as outline at the start of this message string would lead me to measuring the extractor spring free length. New they are about .935" long. When they get around .910" ish range of length AND if there is a reliability issue, I then would suggest replacing the extractor spring out for a new one. These are $4 parts from Ruger. I find the extractors do not wear out; they break. I also tested the aftermarket extractors and compared them to the $4 Ruger parts and found the Rugers to have more life. They are tougher and are less likely to break. In the end both will break if you shoot enough. Magazine springs new are 8 15/16" long (free length). Once installed they quickly shorten to about 8 1/4" long. When they get below 8" AND you start have feeding problems, I would suggest changing the springs. I fully disassemble my magazines, clean them, and measure the springs about twice per year for the shooting that I do.
Extended Magazine Release topic: The bottom release for Mk-1 and Mk-II, and the side release for Mk-III and Mk-IV can set the installed position of the magazine. I have found after market part quality issues with the bottom release. Mostly that they do not reliably hold the magazine in position reliably. The symptoms are you load the handgun and start shooting. After a few shots you get jambs / misfeeds. The magazine popped out of potion slightly. Pushing the magazine back in fixes the problem . . . until it happens again. It took a while to find that the geometry of the aftermarket part was the problem. Once understood, I found that it was not an isolated case. I suspect the side release to be similar but with different geometry. I personally do not own a Mk-IV but have worked on many fellow competitor Mk-IVs and none of them had release issues.
Magazine tuning: FYI, I have never seen a Ruger Mk-series magazine that needed "tuning". Following my above check list would solve the problem every time. Ruger magazines are not fragile parts. I never use aftermarket magazines. I have measured and recorded a whole lot of magazines to get a feel for what the range of "tuning" dimensions that are out there. I found the Ruger can hold a very tight dimensional range in this area. It is not my suggestion for anyone to do to their magazine. If you thought that was needed, I would call Ruger and have them look at it.
Summary: I have shot 100s of thousands of rounds through my Ruger Mk-series pistols. I have worn out one barrel (about 150,000 to 200,000 rounds) and it is looking like I am on the last legs of life on a second Ruger. By following the above check list of thought, I have had incredibly good reliability from all my Rugers. One of the many reasons I love my Rugers is that they all shoot quarter sized groups at 25 yds with the ammo that they like all day long.

I wish any one the best when they have a handgun reliability issue. I can be extremely frustrating trying to work them out. There is an old saying "If you shoot a lot, you will become a gun smith or know of one". It turned out that I became one over my many competitive shooting years. I would be curious to hear your feedback on my thoughts.

 

3. Are there maintenance parts that need attention? Most shooter do not know that your springs are a possible maintenance item. On the Ruger Mk-series pistols the extractor spring, the magazine spring are the two most probable wearables when a Ruger acts up. Problems as outline at the start of this message string would lead me to measuring the extractor spring free length. New they are about .935" long. When they get around .910" ish range of length AND if there is a reliability issue, I then would suggest replacing the extractor spring out for a new one. These are $4 parts from Ruger. I find the extractors do not wear out; they break. I also tested the aftermarket extractors and compared them to the $4 Ruger parts and found the Rugers to have more life. They are tougher and are less likely to break. In the end both will break if you shoot enough. Magazine springs new are 8 15/16" long (free length). Once installed they quickly shorten to about 8 1/4" long. When they get below 8" AND you start have feeding problems, I would suggest changing the springs. I fully disassemble my magazines, clean them, and measure the springs about twice per year for the shooting that I do.

Magazine tuning: FYI, I have never seen a Ruger Mk-series magazine that needed "tuning". Following my above check list would solve the problem every time. Ruger magazines are not fragile parts. I never use aftermarket magazines. I have measured and recorded a whole lot of magazines to get a feel for what the range of "tuning" dimensions that are out there. I found the Ruger can hold a very tight dimensional range in this area. It is not my suggestion for anyone to do to their magazine. If you thought that was needed, I would call Ruger and have them look at it.

I just checked the Mark IV mags that I bought from Volquartsen and the springs measure at about 6". Are you sure about the length quoted above? Maybe VQ is different? With regard to springs, its normal for them to shorten from the strain that they endure with each use. The spring rate may not really be reduced by use though. It's the preload that is changing. For these relatively weak springs, wouldn't stretching them so that their unsprung length is back within 'tolerance' be enough to extend their life and function?

Since I've recently been having rare stovepipes with my Mamba and Mamba X pistols, I figured I should look at the mag interiors. Since I've used Aguila Super Extras exclusively on these pistols, I do find a light collection of wax film near the forward, top side of the mags. It was well within reach of a Q-tip and easy to remove. Metal mags make waxy buildup very easy to remove with only a wipe.

I've viewed that TK mag tuning video and am curious if the rounding of the central 'ears' is really worth doing for a Mark IV?? I'm not sure that it should make a difference. I've already checked the mags for edge burrs and found none, so I don't know that I need to do additional smoothing.

 

Not sure if this will help. I was having problems with multiple stovepipes with my 75th anniversary. I also have a Mark IV Competition which has no problem. I loaded all 4 magazines. 2 from the 75th and The two from the competition and compared. I found that the round in the 75th magazines were sitting at a steeper angle with the nose on the rounds sticking out further. I only used a pair of needle nose pliers and did some bending of the lips until the rounds leveled with the angle of the magazine exit. Took some patience. My 75th doesn’t have anymore stovepipes and that is using HV and standard velocity ammo.
just my experience.

 

Every new to me ruger mkii gets a volquartsen extractor and the magazines get a small radius put on the front of the rear lips on the magazine. I dont remember the last time i had a stovepipe happen and I shoot alot.

 

Stretching a spring is only suitable as a temporary fix, until new replacement springs arrive.

I'll have to disagree with you on this point. As long as the spring hasn't been strained past its yield limit, it can be stretched to its OEM length in order to restore its preload compression.

I agree that VQ must be doing something different with respect to magazine spring length and compression spec. With the shorter VQ spring, the spring rate must be higher than the Ruger OEM spring rate. The Ruger must use the higher preload setting due to its longer length to make up for that lighter spring rate. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

However, I think cometkid is to focused on springs. My mk2 springs have about a bazillion cycles and it still runs like a top. The only spring I regularly replace is the firing pin rebound spring. It gets replaced at 10,000 round intervals along with the extractor.

And he's dead wrong about extractors not wearing out. The problem is that they are squared parts cycling in a round hole. That causes a LOT of galling, which in turn moves the extractor tip forward on the case. You want the tip to sit right where the rim and tube meet. Here's a pic of 2 VQ extractors. The one on the right has about 8,000 cycles.

I recommend you replace your extractor is you have "recently been having rare stovepipes".

Both of my VQ Mambas have less than 4000 rounds and the extractor edges are still sharp and clean, so I'm not seeing how the extractor would be affecting ejection. I do agree with the recommendation to keep an eye on the firing pin rebound spring since I've already had one break.

I'll skip the TK recommendation to round those magazine ears. I agree that it doesn't make sense that they would cause an ejection problem or loading problem.

My thoughts on my rare stovepipes is that maybe the Aguila SE rounds might occasionally be a bit weak and maybe they didn't provide enough pop to cycle the bolt properly.

 

@cometkid - You sure have some strange/unusual ideas/experiences.

My mark pistols have well over 100k rounds down the pipe and the bolts and barrels are like new. They are kept extremely clean, and they go many thousands of rounds between failures. I haven't replaced any springs other than the FP rebound springs, and I see no need to have spares because they continue to function fine - even if they're shorter/weaker than new springs. But there's nothing wrong with YOU changing springs if it gives you peace of mind.

Also, I have worn out many extractors from at least 5 different makers. And I have only had 1 extractor break. That one was a VQ extractor with less than 3,000 rounds on it. Scott Volquartsen said it was improperly heat treated and he replaced it free of charge.

I've also had one bolt break below the extractor hook. Ruger replaced that bolt free of charge as well.

​

 

ru
Test Engineer I am fine with differing thoughts. For the record, I do not change parts unless there is a reliability issue that drives the action. I do measure key parts a couple of times a season to help get a good handle on my pistols maintenance status. My maintenance history is derived from my four Mk-series pistols and also from working on many of the competitor Mk-series pistols in the area, as many as 35 a year.
Interesting you had FP rebound spring issues. You will find these two experiences interesting; the only time I have seen the spring break were from new Mk-VI pistols. When they just came out, the factory was not oiling these at assembly and apparently it did not take many rounds to break these springs. It only takes a drop of oil to keep them running. I told Ruger about this and have not seen any Mk-IV FP rebound spring failures since. Now before I tell you my funny personal story, I fully know the function of the FP rebound parts. Now my story. One does not need the FP rebound parts. When I just got started shooting pistols many years ago, my very first Mk-series pistol I purchased was used. I shot it for a number of years without the FP rebound spring or tab in place, successfully I may add. It was not until a friend of mine and I were working on our pistols when he noticed that my pistol was missing these parts. His first thought, like yours I am sure, the pistol will not work without them. But he witnessed me shooting it countless times without issue. Now that I know better, I have kept these parts in my pistols ever since.
It is nice to compare notes, good luck with your shooting. I shoot the SE Michigan handgun events, what region are you located in?

 

I'm in N.Colorado.

The AR-7 Survival rifles are designed without any FP rebound springs. The main thing is pointing the muzzle up before charging the chamber with the first round from a magazine. That allows gravity to move the FP back so it doesn't block the rim from moving up behind the extractor. Cycling momentum moves it back for feeding the remaining rounds.

However, the FP develops less momentum if it isn't fully back when the hammer arrives. That increases the chances of having a light strike. I have about one FTF in 10 mags (80 rounds) with my AR-7. I never have light strikes with my (maintained) mark pistols.

 

I shot a steel challenge with those Mambas this weekend after cleaning the mags and they didn't have any eject problems. Maybe the dirty mags were causing it.

The only problem I had was when the main spring tube assembly unscrewed on one of the guns during the last stage. It wasn't very reliable then!!

I've taken that gun down and cleaned and loctited the tube back together and reassembled. I guess I need to do the same to the other one.

 

I had a problem with stovepipes in my MK IV. Here's what I did.

https://www.rimfirecentral.com/posts/13487295/