"If I Had a Hammer, I'd Hammer . . " (Or, Ruger MKIII:Remove Barrel to Clean or Not?)

[marks]

Admins: This falls into the realm of cleaning, not really gunsmithing, but if it needs to be moved, please do so, and accept my apologies.

What are your opinions as to whether or not to routinely remove the barrel on a Ruger MKIII when cleaning?

Mine's stubborn, so I've got a nylon mallet ready to go. Thus far, I've just removed the bolt, cleaned the barrel with patches, cleaned any surface I could, accessing from the ejection port, or the open bolt end. I've also cleaned the bolt and bolt face.

I've heard some say the barrel should be removed, as of course, that would allow for easier, more thorough cleaning.
I've heard others say that if the barrel should eventually become loose on the frame (from it being removed repeatedly), you're in far worse shape than if you never removed it at all.

Thoughts/opinions?

Thanks!

[LorDiego01]

Removing the barrel for cleaning is something I wouldn't even consider. Ever.

[PhilB]

I've removed my barrel a few times. It's a bear to do, but it's really the only way to get the lower end with the mag release and trigger bits clean. If your LRHO feature begins to be unreliable, it's time to tear it down completely.

--Phil

[PennsyPlinker]

You might want to edit your poll if you can to say receiver instead of barrel. It might be confusing. I will remove the receiver from time to time, but only if the parts underneath look really dirty, or if I need to do some work on them.

[Azzy]

You might want to edit your poll if you can to say receiver instead of barrel. It might be confusing. I will remove the receiver from time to time, but only if the parts underneath look really dirty, or if I need to do some work on them.

Or if you would like to swap out some parts...

(no affiliation, just think they are neat)

[PisnNapalm]

I remove the barrel/receiver from the grip assembly about every third cleaning. It can get really cruddy in there if ya don't.

[rwb1500]

Rarely.

I had mine for a little shy of a year. Shouldn't have ever gotten rid of it. I took it apart once when I bought it the (new) and once a few months later. It's a pain. I usually just cleaned the bore with a Boresnake and swabbed out the internals with a patch and some Hoppes. Never had a single issue with reliability, other than that of rimfire ammo.

Keep the mags clean though. That's the one thing that could slow mine down. But I'm talking after thousands of rounds. .22 ammo is dirty. Of course the mags get dirty.

Another point of interest, the finish on the blued MKIIIs does not like sweat. If you do some warm weather shooting be sure to wipe and oil before putting it away. You have the 22/45 with the polymer grips though (right?) So your sweat exposure to steel should be minimal.

[marks]

Rarely.

I had mine for a little shy of a year. Shouldn't have ever gotten rid of it. I took it apart once when I bought it the (new) and once a few months later. It's a pain. I usually just cleaned the bore with a Boresnake and swabbed out the internals with a patch and some Hoppes. Never had a single issue with reliability, other than that of rimfire ammo.

Keep the mags clean though. That's the one thing that could slow mine down. But I'm talking after thousands of rounds. .22 ammo is dirty. Of course the mags get dirty.

Another point of interest, the finish on the blued MKIIIs does not like sweat. If you do some warm weather shooting be sure to wipe and oil before putting it away. You have the 22/45 with the polymer grips though (right?) So your sweat exposure to steel should be minimal.

Yes, mine is the 22/45 with the integral polymer grips. All good info, thanks. And, thanks to all that have responded. I think I'll break it down tonight, and then again, just periodically.

[ithinkimamedic]

I have a MKII but since they are similar systems I figured I would chime in.


I run mine suppressed 95% of the time and have only taken the barrel/receiver group off to change from the OEM barrel/receiver group to the threaded one. To date I've easily shot about 4.5k though it with out pulling it and have found no ill side effects. I wouldn't waste the time.

[Ronin]

The only time I've ever taken the barrel off was to change out parts on my Mk II. I have never taken the barrel off to clean the gun. The next time I take the barrel off will be to swap out the Ruger barrel for a Paclite barrel for my Mk III.

My father has a Mk II that has not been apart in over 25 years. Clean it occasionally and it will run forever.