A few days ago I started having feeding problems with my trusty Ruger Mk 1. I have had this pistol for 42 years and it has performed admirably. The problem was that the cartridges were jamming in the feed and the bolt was not pulling them out of the magazine. During the session when this started happening (it had never happened before) I noted that one particular magazine was causing all the problems. So I took it home, disassembled it cleaned and lubed it and put it back together. Back at the range my confidence was high, but I was still having problems occasionally.

Back at the house I field stripped the pistol and set about cleaning every nook and cranny. I hate to admit it was in horrible condition. One of the problems with .22 long rifle ammunition is that it is very messy especially in a semi automatic pistol. There was burned on carbon everywhere. There was waxy glop everywhere. I spent over an hour cleaning, much of it with the help of a dental pick. Finally, everything was spotless. The action worked very smoothly. I think the build up of gunk was preventing the bolt from going all the way back so that it couldn't engage the rim of the cartridge which caused the failures to feed.

This morning I went out to the club and set about to fire 100 rounds through it. It operated perfectly. I am certainly going to be more conscientious about cleaning it. I also put 100 rounds through the repaired Beretta M9-22 and it functioned normally. Although the pistols functioned perfectly, I am still a crappy shot. It is like golf and sex, you don't have to be any good at it to enjoy it.

Today's photo is of some of the mis-fed rounds. The bolt had a strong enough return spring to put a hefty dent in them.