Bought some guns off a family Saturday. Just run of the mill stuff
but 30+ years old in go shape. I bought this Ruger, Standard auto 22 in the box, every thing that could be taken apart was.
It was missing a few minor parts, but looked brand new.i just happened to have parts on hand. That's the good news, bad news
I can't get the----thing together. I'm no beginner at this, I've
had many of them apart. For awhile I though I was going senile.
I could not get the main spring housing stud to go up through
holes in reciever. After fighting it for a hour,finally realized that
something was wrong with gun. When reciever/barrel unit is
seated on lower frame, the rear of reciever has a gap on one
side .015", and seems slightly cocked to left. Inspection shows
no sighs of force, or abuse. The hook in frame that locks unit on
is not deformed or burred, looks new. The reciever is the same.
Kids that I bought it off of said the dad had trouble with it new
had taken it apart and was never able to put it back together,
and other people had tried. The sales slip is in the box, has anyone ever run into this, I haven't. I don't know whether to go
ahead and fit it, or see about sending back to Ruger.

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Go to You tube and find tutorial on Ruger Mark 1 assembly

Nice paper weight D! It sounds like a trip back to the mothership might be in order. Otherwise a fine looking rig. Good luck!

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paws for friendship

They have a little side to side play,move the upper forward a bit and it can rotate so it s centered.

Those Ruger standard autos reassembly gives grey hair, ulcers, and destroys sanity

See if it will go together without the "recoil spring assembly." Sometime that "horseshoe" in the rear will keep the stud from sliding in place. Also make sure you are pointing it up at a 45 degree angle so the hammer stirrup has the proper "angle for dangle." Joe

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Wisdom chases me; I'm faster

This^^

The upper bbl unit can usually be installed slightly rotated out of alignment with the lower frame so that the assembly pin won't pass through both the frame and upper.

Rare,,but make sure the firing pin stop (a simple round pin going thru the bolt side to side about an 1 1/4 back from the breech) isn't interfering with the bolt completely seating during reassembly.
If it does, then the recoil spring U bracket at the rear will be too far back to allow the TD pin to slide up & by and lock the frame & bbl unit together.

Also, some pistols require a gentle mallet tap or two to separate the 2 major parts on disassembly and reassembly they were fitted so closely.
Some well meaning people not knowing the TD sequence of these have taken to more severe means and sometimes have damaged the frame in doing so. The frame is nothing more than stamped sheet metal halves spot welded together. So they can deform quite easily if pried on or struck.

Check carefully for a deformed front or rear seat in the frame where the upper unit sits. The front especially where it locks into place.
At the rear check the plate that is fitted cross wise in the frame to support the pin to make sure it hasn't been bent or deformed.
This latter piece that looks like a rectangular block from the outside of the frame is sometimes mistaken as a removeable part by some and taken to with hammer and drift from the outside.

Just some thoughts that come to mind from Rugers I've seen come in for repair. Some we fixed,,some we sent back to Ruger. Their Factory Repair was always very good. But that was in the 70's and 80's. I don't know what they do now.

In addition to the side-to-side alignment of the barrel-receiver with the frame, front-to-back alignment can be a problem. The barrel-receiver can seem to be on properly good and tight even when it's still not on far enough. Thus the holes are not aligned fore-and-aft. Whenever my bolt stop (Ruger's term) refuses to go through the holes, I place the rear of the grip on a thick folded towel laid on the edge of a sink, hold on tight, and give the muzzle a whack with a large rubber mallet. Sometimes a couple of whacks are necessary. It sounds crude (and it is), but I've done it many times, and it always works. Despite the necessary violence, the muzzle is undamaged. Rugers are tough. Any gun you have to assemble with a mallet has to be!

Ruger customer service is excellent. They repaired a loose ejector on my 40 year-old Standard and put in a new extractor while they were at it, all for no charge. They even paid for shipping. Turnaround was one week.

Good luck!

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What, me worry?

Had the same issue with a 1952 vintage gun that my dad had taken apart and could not put back together. Tried everything and was about ready to send it back but then by feel noticed a very slight ridge around the top of the post that had apparantly been peened over the years. Could not see it but could feel it. Look at the post and feel the edge near the top whee it begins to go convex. Run your finger around the edge and see if you can feel anything. Also feel the hole and see id you feel anything. The hole in my pistol was VERY slightly out of round from many years of firing.Took a file and very lightly dressed the hole edge as well as the post and and low and behold I was able to snap it into place!! Don't get me wrong-the gun is still VERY tight but sometimes all it takes is a very minor thing to gum up the works.
I suspect that there are a lot of these guns lying around in their boxes in the exact condition as yours

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Forum consigliere

I have several Ruger 22 pistol's, Mk I's and II's, they can be maddening when trying to reassemble. Post 7,8 & 9 pretty well sum up my experience with them. I have a std Mk I that I had attempted to reassemble several times and finally using the techniques outlined in post #8 along with my extensive vocabulary of colorful metaphors I was able to get it put back together.
I ran my own part time shop back in the 70's and 80's and I had quite a few Ruger 22's come into the shop in a box, like your's.
The issues are compounded when you don't know what the gun has been subjected to before you get it. If all else fails - send it back to the factory. Endeavor to persevere.
Good luck

I have also found that using an extensive vocabulary of colorful metaphors does aid the re-assembly process.

I forgot to mention that in addition to calibrating the barrel/receiver-grip assembly hole alignment with a rubber mallet, I also coat the hole edges and bolt stop with Frog Lube.

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What, me worry?

I find dangling it upside down hanging on trigger guard helps.

I feel bad for the guy bought a new gun took it apart, and never got it back together.

I've had a hundred of these apart myself, have run a couple that
didn't want to go together, they were just stubborn. This one
defies reason. Stud will go through reciever no problem, no
problem with recoil spring either. Reciever seats solidly in right
position, for end to end. But reciever doesn't seat flush in lower
frame. The small angle caused by this won't let stud pass through
Reciever. I put it aside for awhile before I threw it against wall.
Now working on Income Taxes, a few more hours and I'll throw
them against wall and work on Ruger again. Going to clamp it.
forcing it into position.

Life is too short to get ulcers over it, send it back to Ruger and have them do it.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Nothing is certain but Ruger assembly problems and taxes.

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What, me worry?

I have one that has to be reassembled with a mallet. Some are tighter than others.