A couple newbie questions...

[GeekWithAGun]

First, "Hi". I'm new. I just bought my first gun on the 19th of last month (Smith & Wesson 410S), and my second tonight (Ruger Mark III (MKIII512)). I had a couple questions that I was hoping you kind folks would be able to answer.

1.) About my 410S: I love the way it feels, and how accurate it is. I don't mind the recoil, but I would like to control it better, so I would like some checkering on the front of the trigger guard. I live (~45 minutes) NE of Atlanta, GA and was wondering if anyone knew of a gunsmith that would do this, and possibly a ballpark on the price.

2.) Also about my 410S: I had something weird happen about a week ago. I guess it would be the opposite of stove-piping? I loaded 5 rounds into my mag and fired 4 of them. After the 4th round, the shell ejected, and with it went the 5th, unspent round. I immediately thought it was a mag problem, and took the mag to the guy at the counter to see what he thought. He said the spring was probably too tight (I hadn't used it before that) and that I could try keeping it fully loaded for a week or two to break it in. When I went back in, I used my other mag that had about 350 rounds through it without any problems and it happened again. Personally, I think it was the ammo, but I'm new to this, so IDK. Any ideas?

3.) About my Mark III: The gentleman that sold me my Mark III was very helpful, and it just so happened a guy who had purchased one earlier this week came out of the range as I was talking to him. They both gave me some good advice, and I am happy with my purchase. The one thing that bothered me a little was that the man behind the counter said not to bother cleaning it very often because it was a pain in the butt to disassemble/reassemble (mostly to reassemble). Well, against his advice, I stripped it and put it back together, and he was mostly right. It was a pain to put back together, but I managed just fine. Tearing things down and rebuilding them is not only my job, but I genuinely enjoy it. I'm sure I can do it without referring to the manual after doing it 2 or 3 more times. So anyway, my question is: is there anyone else with a Mark III that doesn't like to clean/lube it for an extended period of time (say ~1,000 rounds)?

Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance for the advice.

-Drew

 

[Dabull]

Is it always your last (unfired) cartridge that comes out with the next to last (fired) shell? If so, maybe its a seating problem...that first round does not go into the mag like the others or it is jostled out of proper feeding position. In the military, we are taught to load the mag then tap it to line all the cartridges up flush against the back of the mag. Maybe this will help with your pistol mag.

 

[GeekWithAGun]

Interesting, I'll have to try that, but to answer your question, no. It happened on the 4th round the first time, 3rd round on one mag and also again on the 2nd from another one. (that time I got 2 live rounds ejected out) It happened with two different mags, and as I said before, one of those mags I trusted. It only happened with that one box of ammo. (but then again, that's alot of problems for one 50 round box of ammo...) I've fired that brand before from rentals without problems, so I'm not quite sure why it would happen now. Sorry if I don't get back to you again tonight, but I'm up past my bedtime. 'night.

-Drew

 

[Sevens]

I'll stick with the Ruger MarkIII and leave the other one to others!

I feel the need to know how to properly field strip all of my pistols. There's no doubt the the Mark I,II,III series is a little stickier than most. But I get a laugh out of how many people get down right upset with it. Some folks actually preach against buying or owning one because of it, which baffles me. If you read the instruction manual, and follow it, it's simple.

If I haven't done it in a while, it takes me a few tries to get it right. I haven't had to re-read the manual, but I know that if I ever truly "lose it", I'll be able to do exactly that.

Everything about this pistol outweighs (by FAR!) any "perceived" difficulty in stripping/re-assembly. The performance, durability, looks, price, accuracy-- this is one of the world's greatest pistols, ever. And if people avoid buying one because they can't take it apart and put it back together, I think that's great. More pistols for folks that deserve them.

As for cleaning and lubing, I think you know my answer. Can't tell you if the pistol can works just as well if neglected because I never have and never will.

I will suggest that you find one of those little magazine button tools to aid in charging the magazine. This is simply a rectangular device that makes it easy to hold down the button when loading the magazine. It literally costs like three bucks and it makes a monumental difference on range day.

You bought a helluva good pistol. It will be around for generations after you are gone.

 

[DanD]

On your 410S, it sounds like the feed lips of your magazines may be just slightly too far apart. You could try squeezing them together just a bit on one magazine until you get the right amount.

 

[PointOneSeven]

You can do a half baked clean job on the Ruger, maybe hit the bore with a patch and cleaner, then spray down the chamber with the slide pulled back. Wipe eveything down so there's no excess cleaner and you're good to go.


I had a .22 rifle that was a pain to clean, I'd tear it down every 2000 rounds or so to really get the crud out.

 

[Chindo18Z]

Re: S&W 410

Feeding/ejection problems could be caused by:

1. low power ammo (were you firing house-provided reloads?) Does using another factory brand fodder solve the problem?

2. extractor is not engaging case rim of new round; gunsmith adjust/replace extractor

3. magazine lips are bent (outward) opening up the throat of the magazine; get a new magazine. Least likely because you said problem ocurred with two different magazines. On the other hand you stated that you had two live rounds eject on one occasion. Was this in addition to a fired case? If so, I'd check to ensure that the mags are factory original to the pistol. It's possible that you have some shoddy after-market mags.

Regarding checkering the trigger guard...

A cheap, effective, and reversible substitute means to "checker" (actually stipple) the trigger guard is to fold a small strip of skateboard tape (or 3M non-skid tape for floors/stairs) around the guard. Lots of folks do this to the frontstrap of the grip.

However, I'm not sure WHY you would desire to do so on the front of the trigger guard? Unless your objective is to provide side purchase for your trigger finger when it is outside the guard (Safety Rule: Finger Off Trigger Until Ready To Fire)?

There is no reason for applying pressure to the weapon with your weak hand index finger in front of the trigger guard, nor does it offer any useful support to your firing grip. Rather, it will cause your accuracy to suffer.

Squared-off trigger guards became all the rage during the '80s, but were quickly disgarded/ignored by most shooters as not being conducive to effective shooting. I realize that your S&W has a rounded trigger guard, but would still recommend that you not use it as a place to park support fingers.

 

[GeekWithAGun]

You guys are awesome!

I come home from work to find all this help, thanks!

About the magazine button tool: Sweet, I didn't even think to see if they had one, but I did notice that it was going to be painful loading it. And as far as cleaning goes, I agree with you, I'm just gonna go for it and keep it nice and clean like my S&W, clean it after every range trip. I like cleaning them, so it doesn't bother me.

About my 410: Magazines are factory originals (I should HOPE, I bought it NIB from a store I like/trust), and are stamped with the S&W crest and "40 S&W" underneath that, on the opposite side of the mag is "Accu Guide" and a patent #. As far as bending them in, I want to check the rest of the things first, since the metal seems pretty strong and I don't want to go messing something up thats going to be hard to re-bend. I hope the extractor is not the issue. IDK how hard that is to repair/replace, but the gun is new, only 550 rounds through it. Not only that, but it only happened on that one brand of ammo, which, you're right, was house reloads. (Well, the store didn't reload them, but it was a local Atlanta company) Low power, I don't think so, they were 180 gr. JCP or JCT or something like that, I don't really recall, but I did notice they weren't labeled FMJ, even thought they looked just like the Remmington UMC rounds I have been putting through it, which are also 180 gr.

And finally, about the stippling (thanks for the correction, I was wondering what the right term for it was). The idea was to get a better grip on the forward part of the frame to try to reduce the muzzle flip, and get back on target faster. I actually tried putting my weak hand index finger there last time I went (very little pressure), and my accuracy was great. I almost shot out the x ring and all but two were at least inside the 10 ring. (the other two were on the inside part of the 9 ring. This was at 20' (I know that's probably not great but I'm new), so all in all, I sent 48 rounds into a 4-5" diameter circle at 20', and I'm OK with that for now.

Thanks again for the help guys.

-Drew