Ruger PC experience

[Ganderite]

I bought a used one on EE. The model with a conventional butt and MLOK forend.

So far I very happy with it. Good trigger and accurate and reliable enough for the competitions I would use it in.

I added a bolt handle to the left side. It worked for about 100 rounds, and then started to gall on the receiver. It was aluminum. Trash.

I will buy another Ruger handle, or an aftermarket steel one. In the meantime, I moved the Ruger handle to the left side.

In 500 rounds I have had one fail to fire. A dubious primer in a handload. No fails to feed or eject. I have been shooting CamPro 124s and 147s seated at 1.210" and DRG lead 135 gr RN at 1.220".

Accuracy has been improving, as I find a good load. My pistol likes ammo loaded at about 75% power. The carbine prefers 90%.

I am testing loads indoors at 50 yards, off a bench, using a 7X scope.

It seems to prefer Win 231 as a powder, but I only have a pound or so left out of two jugs. The BR5 is a slow, non-canister lot of Power Pistol. I have 20 pounds of that, so will try to make it work.

I tried two different muzzle brakes. Both shifted the group and opened it up, so no more muzzle devices.

 

[Canuck44]

Ganderite you likely know this but if you don't, a warning. Don't shoot lead when you are using a flash hider or brake in either pistol or rifles.
After a couple hundred rounds you will see a buildup of a lead amalgam made up of lead particles, lube and burnt carbon. It is nasty to get out of either device. I so wanted lead to work in my FX9. After a couple hundred rounds I was at it with a brass punch knocking out the damn material from the brake. I have the shorter 10 barrel as well with nothing more than a barrel extension and it began to collect deposits after less than one hundred rounds. I now regulate my two Carbines, one with a brake and the other with just a flash hider to BDX 124grainers and Can Pro 147 grainers. To my knowledge there is no cure using lead bullets.

Take Care

Bob

 

[Ganderite]

Thanks. I did not know that.

I have found that the Brounells stainless steel bore brushes cut through lead like it was butter.

 

[Canuck44]

The problem is when the lead crap builds up in the holes. Believe me, it is like a rock material not like lead.The brush won't touch it. I felt like you until I ran into it this spring.

Take Care
Bob

 

[Ganderite]

Thanks. Won't be shooting with a brake (Unless I find one that works) and I have tested enough to conclude that the CamPro bullets shoot better than lead. I will still use lead in my 9mm pistols.

I tried some fast double taps with the carbine (no brake) and the second shot was about the same place as the first. The barrel and metal forend are heavy....

 

[Canuck44]

The PCC Ruger is a great carbine. I let mine go only because I had two options on barrels with my FX9 and two others for PCC Division in IDPA. With need for primers I figured the money would be better spent on primers. The latter are out of this world for pricing. My Ruger was great for accuracy. I had the standard forearm. A friend that shoots here has the full tactical version. I fouund it front heavy.

Take Care

Bob

 

[GerardSamija]

Ganderite you likely know this but if you don't, a warning. Don't shoot lead when you are using a flash hider or brake in either pistol or rifles.

That's a really important bit of knowledge right there. I saw an old French 'Unique' .22lr pistol years ago with a 6.5" barrel and a heavy steel 3-slot brake on the front. The cut of each vent was square-bottomed, and at the lowest corner of each diagonal cut was a substantial crack. The thing was being gradually torn apart by the build-up of powder and lead inside, allowing each shot fired to impact the walls and pull the steel just a bit further forward. It would eventually have broken right off. Definitely want to avoid bare lead projectiles and muzzle devices mixing.

 

[emerson]

The problem is when the lead crap builds up in the holes. Believe me, it is like a rock material not like lead.The brush won't touch it. I felt like you until I ran into it this spring.

Take Care
Bob

I get the same thing in my 10/22 Competition with the factory brake. It shoots crappy without the brake though. I usually “clea the brake with a drill bit in a cordless.

 

[Canuck44]

I get the same thing in my 10/22 Competition with the factory brake. It shoots crappy without the brake though. I usually “clea the brake with a drill bit in a cordless.

The flash hider on my FX9 had a buildup of the amalgam at the vent holes that came out with a brass punch eventually. What I found interesting is the barrel shroud that extend out past the forearm on the 10" barrel was seeing a buildup of individual spots that was a bugger to get out using a screwdriver as a scrapper. As I am typing this, I realize I have a brake on my S&W .22 pistol. I mostly use copper washed cartridges in it. I just got up so I will go up, have a coffee and get back to this thread. This might not be one of my best days.

Take Care

Bob

 

[Canuck44]

Plugged! My brake on my Victory Model is absolutely plugged with the amalgam. I am surprised a .22 bullet would get through. No warnings in the manual about it either. Time to call S&W. That and I am going to have a fun day trying to clean out the mess. Not sure why it will not dawn on me earlier if lead plugs the brake and brake on one gun it is going to do the same thing on another. I'll be back later to let you know what S&W has to say about it. For those reading this thread would copper washed .22lr ammo prevent the build-up? I am a moron!

Take Care

Bob

 

[Canuck44]

I Have not run a brass brush through it yet to clean out any small areas yet, but I chipped out, using a proper sized punch, 73.5 grains of carbon/lead/lube build up out of the holes in the muzzle brake. What a mess. The junk is not lead but an amalgam of lead, carbon and lube. It is hard almost like coal clinkers for those old enough to know what coal clinkers are. :>)

I thought the picture was worth posting given some here might be skeptical about the problem.

Take Care

Bob

 

[GerardSamija]

Looking through my files, I find this photo I took of the muzzle brake on that Unique model D4 pistol I worked on for a friend years ago. Nasty. Looked like someone had put tens of thousands of rounds through it without bothering to give it a cleaning. And this was just a preliminary scraping inside the brake. After heating and twisting the thing off (it was a very solid press-fit to the stepped muzzle of the barrel, not threaded) a whole lot more came out with a twist drill used in a pair of Vise-Grips, working it back and forth. In the end the owner didn't want the brake put back on, just a barrel trim and re-crown to get past the damaged crown on the long barrel. You can see the cracks, the longest at the first slot in the brake.

 

[Canuck44]

OK so will copper washed .22lr bullets prevent this from happening?

Take Care

Bob

 

[GerardSamija]

If you can find them, the painted CCI Clean ammunition seems a good bet. I recall seeing them in bright Christmas green and red at Reliable a couple of years back. I hear in American forums that they're hard to find now.

 

[Ganderite]

Small pistol primers are hard to find, but I have 15,000 small rifle primers that are surplus, given that my AR-15s are locked up.

So I loaded some 9mm ammo with Remington small rifle primers. About 1:20 did not fire in the Ruger. About 1:10 in my Canik pistol.

I can't find any mention of a heavier hammer spring for the carbine. is there one available?

I have not had the trigger assembly apart. I wonder if the geometry would allow a washer under the hammer spring to make it stiffer?

UPDATE:

Took the hammer and hammer strut out. Pins pop right out. The spring is captive on the strut, held on by a tiny C clamp. Looks like various Colt 1911 hammer strut springs could be tried.

I am not that ambitious, so I added a small washer to the end of the strut. This will increase spring tension a tad. Might be enough to give me 100% with rifle primers.

There is some fiddling involved, to put it all back together, so I cheated. I used a dab of rubber cement (glue) to position the washer on the end of the spring/strut.

I stuck it in a target while the glue dried...

I used the PC9 in a CQB match today. It was flawless except for the stage where it ran out of magazines...

Next range time I will test those Remington small rifle primers.

 

[Canuck44]

Gamderite did you try to double stroke any of those that did moot fire?

Take Care
Bob

 

[Ganderite]

Yes. Some fired. Some did not.

But I get 100% with pistol primers.

 

[Ganderite]

What Canadian dealer has a steel bolt handle for the Ruger PC9? Aftermarket or Ruger will do.

 

[Nibe]

What Canadian dealer has a steel bolt handle for the Ruger PC9? Aftermarket or Ruger will do.

Calgary Shooting Centre carries the MCARBO charging bolt. Aircraft aluminum but very strong and pretty cool.

 

[Ganderite]

My PC9 ran well at the match today, but the bold seldom locked open on last shot (Glock). What is the problem? Is there a solution?