SGW Gunsmith
Well-Known Fanatic
The Ruger Mark IV pistols, first batch run, are on a recall notice from Ruger. Seems there's been an allegation concerning the safety and if the safety is put in the half-way position, and if the trigger is pulled and then the safety is pushed to the off position, the hammer will fall. I've had more than a dozen Ruger Mark IV pistols cross my bench for various trigger upgrades and other modifications, and I've only found one Mark IV that would do what the recall claimed could happen.
I ordered a Mark IV Competition Target so I could disassemble this version and possibly decipher what exactly the problem could be, if one actually did exist, and what could possibly be done to rectify the issue. With the pistol as I received it, I couldn't get it to perform as was claimed could happen, therefore warranting the recall.
Here's what I did find on the two pistols that were returned per my customers requests:
The one difference that I could visually determine on the safety plate is the addition of the "S" instead of the plain white dot and then the slight modification to the angle on the hook that goes over and captures the sear.
The modification, or redesign, of any additional parts involved the sear. In comparison, the ~~NEW~~ style sear, on the left, is quite crude looking in comparison to the original sear on the right and the amount of machining that went into the manufacture of those sears. It almost appears that the sear on the left is a casting that wasn't machined completely:
The trigger pull weight is still not up to the expectations, or requirements, of some Ruger Mark IV owners, so that's what brings many of these pistols to my work bench.
I ordered a Mark IV Competition Target so I could disassemble this version and possibly decipher what exactly the problem could be, if one actually did exist, and what could possibly be done to rectify the issue. With the pistol as I received it, I couldn't get it to perform as was claimed could happen, therefore warranting the recall.
Here's what I did find on the two pistols that were returned per my customers requests:
The one difference that I could visually determine on the safety plate is the addition of the "S" instead of the plain white dot and then the slight modification to the angle on the hook that goes over and captures the sear.
The modification, or redesign, of any additional parts involved the sear. In comparison, the ~~NEW~~ style sear, on the left, is quite crude looking in comparison to the original sear on the right and the amount of machining that went into the manufacture of those sears. It almost appears that the sear on the left is a casting that wasn't machined completely:
The trigger pull weight is still not up to the expectations, or requirements, of some Ruger Mark IV owners, so that's what brings many of these pistols to my work bench.
