Wow you really detail stripped your pistol. If we are talking about the same piece, the curved side should face you. I have to find a diagram to make sure that we`are on the same page.

Has anyone used shotshells in the MarkIII?
If so, did they eject OK?
Do they foul up the barrel?
Is it even a good idea to fire these through the gun?
I live in Rattlesnake country and would like to carry a few of these shotshells in case I run into one or two.
Thanks.

The key is rotating the firearm as directed in the instruction set, as you put the piece elements back together. The Ruger website has a short video online for the Mark series pistols that is helpful.

First time is always a bear. After three hours I put the parts in a box because I was getting pissed off and thought I might break something. Two nights later I brought it out and read the manual reassembly instructions word for word. It kind of fell together following the directions exactly. When it says to hold the gun at 45 degree angle they mean it.

If you read the assembly instructions properly it is a snap. If you do not, the gun will never go together. There is one step where you must turn the muzzle up with the pistol inverted in order to insert the mainspring housing latch into the grip frame. If you miss that step, you will never again have a fully assembled pistol. haha. It is a must. That seems to be where you are. Once you know this, field stripping and reassembly are as simple as any firearm there is.
Good Luck!

A lot going on, just got down to giving it another shot. I dissembled the Mark III so I could compare the two and went through each step carefully, rotating and such. Long story short, now I have two Rugers in a bunch of pieces. I'm really pissed to say the least, I was careful and vigilant and made sure every part was put in properly and followed the instructions. Now it looks like I'm gonna have to pay someone to put my rugers back together.

it cant be that hard, there is a lot of instruction videos on youtube to help you, markII/III is a menace, but not impossible of course!!
Example here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxFqznQJSpE

Good luck!

I figured it out, had nothing to do with the basic reessembling either. I pretty much figured it out by looking at diagrams and studying the pieces, I practically had to put the gun together from scratch. I'll do the best I can to explain it.

The sear, sear pivot and sear spring was the main issue. If it's too far back the hammer can't come forward and if it's too far forward you can't fully insert the magazine. I found that the sear must be brought forward enough so that it locks in with the end of the disconnector. Once that happens you have to hold it in place as you put together the bolt stop thumb piece, safety, hammer and it's bushing. once I got that together properly it was smooth sailing.

There's no info or tutorial for this online, so hopefully this can help someone else, it was a pain in the ass for me. But once I got the hang of it I was able to take it apart and put it together with no issue's. This was done on the Mark II but it also applies for the Mark III. Tried to take a picture of what I was referring to as the issue, not a great resolution though.

If you no longer have your manual, download another. If you follow and learn the procedure there-in you will have no problems again. Reassembling the MkII is no more difficult than reassembling a 1911 or any other semi-auto. They all have a procedure that must be followed.

Originally Posted by Rokky

Has anyone used shotshells in the MarkIII?
If so, did they eject OK?
Do they foul up the barrel?
Is it even a good idea to fire these through the gun?
I live in Rattlesnake country and would like to carry a few of these shotshells in case I run into one or two.
Thanks.

I have never tried shot shells in any semi-auto handguns, but did try them iin a couple of different semi-auto rifles, results were less than stellar. The rifles didn't cycle either failures to feed or eject. Plus in one case where the shot shell was the second round, the plastic tip broke when feeding, needless to say it required extensive cleanup. I only use shot shells in revolvers now.

I had no real trouble stripping, cleaning and reassembling the Mk III that I just bought. Took about 30 minutes. There are many youtube videos on the subject... here is a good one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVvIMAk64LM

Just takes a few times and it's second nature. Follow the directions in the manual and it's easy.