Damage to Chamber Face - Ruger MkIII

Hello all,

Started dry firing a Ruger MKIII Target model a couple of months ago. Pistol is (was) in excellent condition, kept clean, oiled, etc.

Came home forom the range the other day and gave the pistol a light cleaning before going back to the range the following day.

Next day at the range the pistol will not load first cartridge from any magazine. Cartridge stops about 1/3 way into the chamber and scraps lead strip on cartridge.

Upon further inspection, discover that there is a definite dimple on the breach face, obviously caused by the firing pin. Bolt is in good shape, the firing pin stop pin is in proper location. Everything looks good except for the breach.

In further research there was apparently a tool available that would fix this, but they are no longer available.

Have any of uyou seen this issue? and if so is there anyway to repair it?

Hoping to not have to replace the upper unit. Your thoughts appreciated...

Check to make sure firing pin isn’t broken. Sometimes, if the firing pin is broken, both halves stay in the bolt but there is no longer a stop for the forward half and it hits the breach face. Check to see if either MidwayUSA or Brownells sells a rimfire chamber de-burring tool. I forget what it’s called...

If the tool is no longer made/sold then having someone take a chamber reamer to it may be in order.

You might also want to check and make sure the firing pin stop is still in the bolt assembly.  The owner's manual cautions, that it needs to correctly installed to prevent damage to the bolt face and that it can fall out during normal cleaning.

The tool Brownell's used to sell was called a chamber iron I think.

I don't know much about this personally, but in all the reading I did a while back, I read that one should never "remove" material to fix the problem - the material needs to be forced back to where it came from.  I can't vouch for this, but it was from what I recall was a very trustworthy source.  I'll see if I can find it again.  I think, not sure, it came from one of the discussions on "Rimfire Central Forums", in a discussion about High Standard guns.


Edit - added later:
https://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=451152

Menck chamber iron.

There are some for sale on eBay today as well as just the swaging portion of the tool

a section of drill rod, in the proper size, will work as well, 

just bend it a bit to access the area, and go slow, 
(round off any sharp edges when you cut the piece of drill rod)

I saw a hint to make your own chamber iron by taking a punch with a tapered section (from handle down to punch diameter) and using that tapered shoulder as an iron to push back any metal which was impeding the start of the chamber.   I suppose you could also file a flat on one side of the tapered section to (like the Menck iron) go where the material is in the chamber and simply turn it to move the metal back to its original shape.

I would find this easier than working with a drill rod.

I purchased a used 22 with a slight dimple on the breech face. A chamber iron is easily made with a 1/4 bolt, file and drill. Keep the transition from radius to the flat smooth and with a slight rounded edge. Don't cut metal, just displace it.

long tapered punches were used for years prior to the Menck tool...

A punch is what I have used before along with a small round file.   I filled the divot with JB Weld.  The JB Weld is not necessary.  There should be enough support from the sides of the divot for a good firing pin strike.

Thanks  for all of the feedback guys. I ordered one of the tools off of eBay. We will see how it goes.

menck tool is available on ebay,very rare to see,because are discontinued. i buy one today!

Greetings,

Buy a bag of these "Dry Fire" plugs at your local hardware store...


Cheers,

Dave

Steamerbill,  I see you are from Cypress.  I've been shooting in Houston for a couple of years and haven't seen you there, so I thought I'd make sure you knew we have a monthly 2700 match at Bayou Rifles Addicks Range.  Next match is this coming Sunday 9:00.  Let me know if you want more info.