Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

[AdamJacksom]

I recently traded for a ruger mk 2 stainless with the bull barrel. I received the gun from an old PD who had bought the gun new back in the 80s. He was honest and upfront during the transaction to let me know that the gun had been neither shot, nor cleaned in the past 10 years, though it had been stored in a safe. My initial outing the with Mk 2 showed that it had several FTFs and FTEs. Upong breaking the gun down, it was easily seen that the gun had not been cleaned in a very long time. Long story short, I did a total disassemble and cleaned every part thoroughly, and then put it back together.

During the second outing, the gun performed flawlessly, though i had several problems with an fastfire 2 sight that caused me to put the gun up before i was done shooting it. after working that problem out, i went back out shooting it. After about 200 rds, with no problems, I had some object or blowback, that hit me about 1/2" below my right eye. It was substantial enough that I had to dig the small piece of metal out with a needle once I got home.
I have fired countless .22rds as well as other semi autos in my life, and never once had anything blow back to hit me in the face.
my question is this, is this something I should be worried about repeating? any idea what the object could be? was it related to the .22 bullets? or the gun?

Thanks
SjF

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

If the gun appears undamaged and properly assembled, I'd give the ammo consideration for a permanent change. Make certain the chamber is completely clean all the way to its front end. See if a fired case will chamber smoothly and completely while you slowly and gently close the bolt by hand.

I would never consider such behavior to be acceptable from a firearm or ammo; the danger area is supposed to be in front of the muzzle. My best guess is that the firearm may have fired while still partially out of battery.

I don't know whether eye protection is a regular part of your shooting regimen, but if it isn't yet, it should be after this.

BTW, I just passed by Buford on my way home from Disney this past Friday, and am also a PI grad.

Greg

 

[ivanthesane]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

Mine will slamfire or have an OOB discharge if it is very dirty - like 2k+ rounds w/o cleaning.

Of course, this is why we wear safety glasses... right?

 

[Powder_Burns]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

Wear EYE PRO and this is a non-issue.

 

[AdamJacksom]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Powder Burns</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Wear EYE PRO and this is a non-issue. </div></div>

Really? That's like telling a kid to wear a Kevlar suit anytime he's around a gun to make sure if he is shot, it would be a non-issue. I actually was wearing eye protection, but it didn't cover the upper area of my cheek. I still find this unacceptable.

the gun was as clean as when it came from the factory. it could have been the ammo, though. either way. it makes me nervous, as well as, quite reluctant to ever let someone else shoot the pistol.

 

[Hookturnr]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

I'm several thousand rounds in on my mkIII and haven't had any issues thus far. That being said, I don't shoot any subsonic loads in it and nothing screaming hot either. I have had a couple other 22's shear bits of bullet off on the feed ramp but never had anything come flying back my way.

 

[ar15is223]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

I had the exact same thing happen to me with my Ruger mkII as well. All I know is that I was shooting it and then there was a little piece of something stuck on my face and it was very hot. Im pretty sure it was a piece of lead, brass or some kind of fouling that came out when the spent case ejected and flew backwards. I wasn't too worried about it, I just wear eye protection and dont worry.

 

[Searcher]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

With the firearm being factory clean, I cant imagine how this happened. I have a MkII and it has fired literally thousands of rounds, most of them subsonic, and I have never had any issue whatsoever.

If the fragment came back with enough velocity to get under the skin, it seems most likely that the round fired out of battery causing a case fragment to blow off and hit you. I have heard of this happening with Ruger 10/22s.

 

[Neil Allen]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

I had this happen to a competitor at a rifle match this past summer. Never did figure it out. Changed ammo, solved problem.

Or could it be splash back?

OP. What was the target material? Backstop? Anyone else shooting nearby?

 

[armorpl8chikn]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

^^^^Take a good look at what Mr Allen has posted here. I had this happen to me twice in two months with different manufacturers ammo and different guns. It happens. I was wearing glasses...BOTH times. I still have a tiny sliver of brass in my nose that I cannot find for the life of me and every once in a while if I wipe my nose just right a tiny pinprick of blood pops up. One of the ruptures I had(the one that put so much shrapnel in my face)the entire case head was gone.
There is nothing wrong with your gun. This may happen if you shoot a LOT of 22 ammo, simply luck of the draw. Guns are dangerous...plain and simple. If you cannot live with the possibility of this happening then take up a sport that doesn't involve holding a controlled explosion near your face.

 

[former naval person]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

I have experienced more back splatter with the Wolf and Anguila than with American. Different priming compounds and powders. I find Federal bulk to be the cleanest. JMHO

 

[gathert]

Re: Need advise, Ruger MK 2 almost blinded me

Sometimes it just happens with the .22 ammo. Its pretty thin and an OOB fire all send lots of little parts flying. Sometimes they blow out like pictured above. I have noticed on a few that I have shot that some brass shavings or bullet shavings like to hang around inside the gun if its not clean and when there is a little extra back pressure in the gun the little pieces will clean themselves out, most of the time at your face.