The Ruger Pokey

My Ruger Mark II had not been torn down for a detail clean in quite sometime due to the rather arcane requirements to have it reassembled and function after stripping. It was starting to have some extraction problems so I figured it was well and truly due for a quality cleaning.

As anyone who owns a Mark II or its related variant knows, a complete tear down is generally a source of trepidation due to the hassle of reassembly.

I removed the bolt, took the receiver off of the grip and trigger housing, removed the grips and gave it a serious scrubbing.

The amount of crud that had built up over the long period of firing it was impressive. It is now cleaner than it has been in quite some time after being cleaned in every crevice and on every surface. There was even crud awaiting on the metal frame under the grip panels. The trigger is noticeably better now that all the grit that built up on it has been removed and the bolt and chamber are now remarkably clean.

Then it was time for reassembly:

Reassembling the Mark 2 generally requires facing Southport, Connecticut, then sacrificing a chicken and promising to quit being pissed, at least for a little while, at Bill Ruger for his support of the assault weapons and magazine ban.

But that is not enough.

After placing the barrel and receiver back on the trigger frame you have to do what I call the Ruger Pokey dance:

The Ruger Pokey

You point the gun up and pull the trigger back,
You slide the bolt in and give it a smack,
Then you need to place the hammer forward so you pull the trigger down,
But you're still not done, Hey!

You put the mainspring in, you point the barrel up,
Don't exceed 60 degrees or you will be upsut,
Make sure the strut rests on the main spring depression,
But you're still not done, Hey!

Now you latch the mainspring housing and hope you did it right,
If you did the Ruger Pokey, the bolt will move and not be stuck tight,
If not then you will start all over your fight,
That's what its all about, Hey!

After performing the Ruger Pokey, I, mirabile dictu, actually got the Mark II reasembled perfectly on the first try this time.

Now I'll have to take it to the range and get it all dirty again...

The M&P Returns And A New Shooter Goes To The Range

Today Rob and his lovely wife Sumiko came to the range with me.  Rob has come to two USPSA matches with me and it looks like he's enjoying and going to keep competing in USPSA, so we wanted to get an opportunity to do some informal practice.

Sumiko had never been shooting before, so with some coaching and instruction from Rob and myself we loaded up the trusty Ruger MKII .22 and let her do some shooting with it.

I strongly advise starting all new shooters with a .22. New shooters are apprehensive enough about shooting that there is no need to add louder noise and recoil than a .22 to start them off. Remember, you want them to have fun and come back.

Do note that there is a special place in hell for the idiots that give the "little woman" a .44 magnum with heavy loads to shoot for a first time experience.

We set the target up about 7 yards away, and her first target ended up looking like this.

Sumiko was great, had a good time, lost the apprehension quickly and had excellent safety and accuracy.  She consistently hit the targets and had fun doing it.

In between 20 rounds we would rotate.  I shot my M&P9 and Rob his Kahr PM-9.  In addition to Sumiko's target, we had set up 7 poppers and a couple IPSC targets and worked on speedily clearing the steel and getting hits on the two targets quickly.  I had a free shot timer on my phone and in between it crashing we manged to get a neat look at our overall time for the course and shot splits.  Eventually I need to buy a real timer.

After shooting about 80 rounds of .22, Sumiko agreed to try Rob's Kahr PM-9 and my S&W M&P9.

Soon she was hitting steel with the Kahr and M&P with aplomb and enjoyed knocking down the reactive targets.

In short, Sumiko had a blast at the range.

It then started getting colder so we packed up and headed over to my house for a great dinner with Natasha and the kids.  A fine dinner, with a tasty Sangria/Lambrusco combo brought by our guests was had by all, except for the kids who got water or milk with their meals.  A great Saturday afternoon and evening.

M&P Notes:  The M&P functioned perfectly at the range with this being its first time out since returning from S&W for repair.  I still have a few concerns about it, but it handled 100 rounds today without a single failure.

However, if someone happens to have an M&P9 and a dummy round handy and is willing to try something for me, I'd appreciate it so I can tell if a certain action is normal for M&Ps or if only mine is doing it.  If you've got one and are willing to give it a try and duplicate the event, let me know, I'd appreciate it.