Ruger Mark 4 lite accuracy

[Chillywig]

Just got a Ruger mark 4 lite. Had sighted it in at about 18 yards last Saturday when I got it.  Went out to the local club yesterday and did some plinking. I was shooting the smoke and hope stage plus did a little suppressed test to another 22 pistol for a quietness comparison. Between the steel challenge practice, shooting suppressed and having several mags along with the ultimate clip loader I shot a lot in a short amount of time. The little ruger got quite hot and the accuracy and point of impact changed significantly.  Anyone else experience this?

[Gregg K]

They have been known to have the nut on the end of the barrel that tensions the barrel against the sleeve come loose, it's glued in place and with heat can come loose.

Also make sure the barrel didn't lead up.

[Chillywig]

Barrel was leaded up pretty good. Shooting too fast suppressed must have gotten it too hot and caused the problem. Once I cleaned it out its back to shooting prefect 

[Gregg K]

I have had a couple of barrels lead up really bad because I shot them fast enough to get them really hot. The worst barrel was a Volquartsen carbon fiber tension barrel, they have no vents in the carbon fiber shroud and there is an air gap between the barrel and the shroud so it's just like a thermos bottle keeping the barrel hot and the air gap isn't transferring the heat through to the shroud. The barrel leaded up so bad that you couldn't pass a .17 rod down the bore after shooting 500 rounds. The next 2 barrels I got wanted to lead up when they got hot too but it seems that after several milder shooting sessions followed by good cleaning that the barrels are actually getting better about not leading as bad when they get hot. Maybe your barrel; will get better after several rounds of cleaning and shooting too. I think that the thin tension barrels must heat up faster than the standard barrels because I have never had leading problems with regular barrels even after abusing them so bad that you need to pour water on them to cool down.

[Chillywig]

I tried several different types of lead ammo and seen lead starting to build up in 200 rounds or less in my mark 4 lite. Switching to a copper plated bullets like cci mini mags and federal champion have caused 0 leading in the barrel thus far.

[Polaris13]

I had the same accuracy problem with my 22/45.  It is outfitted with a ton of Tandemkross parts and Volquartsen acurizing kit.  Spoke with a lady at Ruger and she suggested trying CCI Mini mags, that's what they had the best luck with.  I had tried at least a dozen other types of ammo, without success. Accuracy was all over the place.  2" groups at 50 feet from a rest!  I still haven't tested the 36 and 40 grain mini mags to be sure which works better.  She also asked if the rubber "bumper" was in the hole in the frame.  It stabilizes the barrel.  Mine wasn't there from new.  A friend didn't have one either.  She sent me a couple of the bumpers.  She also said that Volquartsen makes one, which I tried, but it didn't stay stuck.  The gun has been super reliable and good for steel shooting, so I'm not fretting too bad, but I would like it to be more accurate.  I'll do more Mini Mag testing as soon as schedule allows.

As far as leading up goes, rimfire is dirty, and I understand that.  I clean mine after every shooting session, which is between 200 and 400 rounds.  I tried going to 500, but at 450 things got a bit cruncy and very time consuming to clean.

Edited July 5, 2019 by Polaris13

[AzShooter]

Put a bore snake in your shooting bag and run it through the gun every 200 rounds.  Problem solved.

 

I shoot about 500 rounds per session with my 22/45 and don't have any perception of leading.  I shoot CCI-SV and even Blazer with no problem.  When I get home I do use a bore snake and MPro-7 to clean the barrel out.  I also clean my compensator with 50% peroxide and 50% vinegar but I do that after every 1000 rounds.

[RickT]

Echoing what AzShooter noted about leading, my wife's practices (22/45 Lite) run 400-500 rounds of CCI SV with only a single swipe of a patch necessary.  The TK compensator is another matter.   AzShooter's 50/50 mix of vinegar and peroxide in a US cleaner worked pretty well on the comp, but I also bought some industrial strength Simple Green (formulated for aircraft cleaning, but good reviews from gun folks) to try.

[Polaris13]

Here is a response and an update on my 22/45 accuracy issue:

Response:  My gun is clean before every session and given the accuracy problem I was having, I was cleaning the barrel and feed ramp at the range every 100 rounds.  Still didn't solve the issue.  But it did get solved, read on...

I found that my 22/45 didn't start to shoot acceptably till I had about 1200 rounds through it.  It appeared to be a break in issue that solved the problem as I changed nothing else.  Now it shoots like a laser.  I did test the Mini Mags, both 36 and 40 grain and couldn't tell a big change between the two, shooting off a rest.  I could shoot steel faster with the 40 grain Mini Mags.  Since the gun was shooting so well at this point, I ran out of Mini Mags, so I found some 40 grain Blazers in my bag just to "play" with and I found that they shot more accurate and consistent than either the 36 or 40 grain Mini Mags!  Currently,  I'm testing the Tandemkross aluminum and stainless comps to see which one works better for me for shooting steel.

Now I love the gun so much I want another to set up for iron sights, but I don't have the break in time now.  Oh well, I'll just have to wait a bit more for that.