Routine Cleaning of Ruger PC Carbine PC9 Goes Sideways

[thegazelle]

Well, didn't think I'd spend all morning on this. Thought I'd clean my PC Carbine with the new G96 aerosol I recently got. I have taken apart my PC Carbine probably 12-14 times since I got it, down to the bolt, extractor, etc. Not my favourite activity to do, but it is what it is, and I figure, the more practice I get, the more efficient I will get.

There have been two (2) things about which I am not particularly enthralled when taking apart this gun, and I apologize in advance if I don't know all the terms, but I will try to describe everything to the best of my ability:

1. that piece that slides onto the bolt assembly - with the big long spring (presumably recoil spring) and the square stopper/wall (recoil buffer?) at the end...whenever I take it out, I almost feel like I am bending that plastic square piece which is only connected to the rod with the long spring, only by one connector at the bottom...every time I take this apart to clean, I swear, that plastic piece continues to bend a bit and one day it will just snap off.

2. the two trigger pack pins that hold the trigger pack to the rest of the lower - I don't clean the trigger pack - I always put it on safe and after removing the pins, I take the trigger pack out and set it aside. My problem has always been putting it back - the trigger pack doesn't seem to align easily in order for me to line up the pins. I eventually get it...not sure why it is so hard to align

Well, today, I took everything apart, got the gun cleaned, and when I put that whole bolt assembly with that sliding piece with the long rod and recoil spring with the square plastic wall at the end - when I put it back to today, the plastic end piece stayed a bit bent. I tried to unbend it but to avail.

When I put the trigger pack back and looked like both holes aligned, I couldn't get the pins through. Eventually I got the front pin in but it went in about 90% but it wouldn't go through the other side. Similarly, when I took the pin out and put it through the other side, it went in until it hit the other side. So clearly an alignment problem.

I kept playing with it and was wondering whether it was that stupid black square plastic piece on that bolt assembly that was somehow putting the trigger pack out of alignment. I took everything apart, bent the black plastic piece straight again and tried again. No dice.

I did manage to get both trigger pack pins 90% into the lower and was going to just leave it, but thought I'd try function testing it. It worked. I pulled the bolt back with the charging handle and it was stuck. So I tried to put it back on safe. It couldn't go. Probably because I didn't charge it yet. But when I pulled the bolt back again it was stuck.

I then made the mistake of taking both pins out again from the trigger pack that held it to the lower.

The trigger assembly was removed but not before something fell on the floor. I couldn't figure out what it was and I checked the floor and a casual perusal showed nothing - but something may have fallen under my dresser. Maybe have been a pebble or something, I don't know. I looked at a Youtube video for taking the trigger pack apart and it looks like I got everything - thank goodness the two pins that keep the trigger/sear, etc. together never came out.

I looked at the trigger pack. Looks like the hammer is wiggling around and this metal piece that connects to it with a spring on it (guess later on I found out it was called a hammer strut or something) was misaligned. I took a look at a Youtube video. Looks like I just need to get the strut and spring aligned with a hole in the back and then I can push the hammer back and #### it. Unfortunately I couldn't get the spring/metal rod piece aligned so when the hammer then was pulled back it would push that piece through the hole with the spring tension holding it. I was still working on that until...another piece fell on the floor. This time it looks like it was the hammer pin. I got that and put it through the hammer but now I am trying to align that metal strut piece so that the piece goes through the back hole when I pull the hammer back.

Good news is I am learning lots. Bad news is that even if I get this whole trigger pack back together, I will have the same problem with the trigger pack not aligning great with the lower in order for me to put the pins back in. But I will deal with one issue at a time.

Any suggestions at this point would be greatly appreciated.



You can see in the photo above that the metal piece/strut is not going through the hole with the spring, as everytime I move the hammer back, it pushes that spring down, making it not aligned so that the strut piece can go through it and so the hammer can be cocked.



Above photo is side view of the trigger pack. When I push the hammer back, it pushes the spring down, making it not aligned with the hole in the back for which that strut is supposed to come out when the hammer is cocked.

 

[Jems]

Looks like the “hammer strut” isn’t sitting in the pocket of the hammer, iirc it sits lower in the hammer. As for putting the trigger group pins in, I think that the hammer should be cocked back, maybe that will help

 

[thegazelle]

Looks like the “hammer strut” isn’t sitting in the pocket of the hammer, iirc it sits lower in the hammer. As for putting the trigger group pins in, I think that the hammer should be cocked back, maybe that will help

Thanks Jems for the feedback.

It would appear that I fixed my own problem...by sucking it up and having a look at the manual...and sure enough, that "pebble" that I thought was a just something that fell was a very important part and the ONLY REASON why I couldn't get the hammer strut seated properly in order to #### the hammer.

I took a look at the manual at the assembly and saw something missing. It was extremely small, but pivotal.

Here's a photo of the manual. What fell on the floor was part number 19.



Why was this important? Because I noticed at the end of the strut (part number 21), there was a little ribbed area. Well, it turns out that ribbeded area held this little piece, which was like a clip of some sort. I went to search for it, and it turns out indeed when it dropped it went under my dresser. I found it and this is what it looks like.



So while I am dumb as a doorknob, limited faculties helped me realize this thing clipped to the end of that strut. And once I put the strut through the spring, it all made sense. I compressed the spring and put the clip at the end. This allowed a bit of the strut to protrude, and it also kept the spring from going beyond the length of the strut. So what was happening when I was trying to fit it without this clip was that the spring was longer than the strut, so everytime I would align the strut with the hammer and pushed down, it applied pressure to the spring and the end of it would bend, thus never aligning it with the hole in the trigger assembly.

Once I found the clip and then pulled the spring back enough, I was able to clip the ribbed end of the strut. That allowed the spring to not interfere and I was able to easily align it with the hole. I then pulled the hammer back, which then put the strut through the hole and cocked in place as seen in the photo below.



I got the gun all back together, though the trigger assembly/trigger group/trigger pack was hard to seat and align with the pins.

I do think it goes all the way back to that piece at the end of the recoil spring and guide rode - which I guess is called the "shock buffer". It is flimsy as heck, and someone a while back mentioned an MCarbo upgrade which has a much more robust shock buffer as well as an upgraded spring and metal retaining clip. I will be ordering this shortly. I suspect that the existing one is bent and as a result, it is causing misalignment with the trigger assembly, since I noticed there is a small cut out in the plastic to accommodate the shock buffer.

Anyways, I did manage to take a photo of this at some point today - you can see the shock buffer not flush against the wall of the lower receiver - it should be at 90 degrees, but in taking it in and out repeatedly when cleaning, and unfortunately the bolt assembly front goes down first on reinstall and this shock buffer gets pulled up first to remove, it is really not supported by much except a little plastic connector at the bottom to the piston rod. You can't bend it back straight while in the gun. You have to take it out to bend it back straight but when you put it back in, the whole assembly goes in on an angle with bolt side first, so it makes that buffer bending again likely. Over time, that thing gets bent and I am leery about rebending it because I swear it will snap off. The MCarbo upgrade looks significantly better in terms of both solidly built and isn't prone to bending.

 

[Jems]

Sounds like you nailed it. Get the mcarbo stainless steel retainer from bullseye while they still have some, I got all of the mcarbo upgraded parts and their quality is excellent. Get the exact edge extractor too, the stock one is crap, you’ll see the difference when you get it, the steel bolt pins are better too.

 

[thegazelle]

Sounds like you nailed it. Get the mcarbo stainless steel retainer from bullseye while they still have some, I got all of the mcarbo upgraded parts and their quality is excellent. Get the exact edge extractor too, the stock one is crap, you’ll see the difference when you get it, the steel bolt pins are better too.

Thank you my friend. I appreciate your recommendation on the extractor and the pins - I will order. Yeah, the bolt pins are hit and miss in taking out. Sometimes I can use my fingernails to get them out. Sometimes I to pry one of them with a screwdriver.

I added an additional photo with some comments after your post - you can see what is likely the culprit of the trigger assembly alignment issues. This has gotten worse over time and no doubt is related to the stock shock buffer bending.

Are there any other parts you would recommend upgrading? Thanks again!

 

[rmsg0040]

Tools that will make your life easy

mini picks (princess auto)
pin punch set
tweezer set (princess auto)
electrical tape (on Ruger trigger packs the pins like to fall out, wrap the trigger group with electrical tape)
mini vise

When I had the Ruger PC, I would remove the 3 allen head bolts on the front of the receiver, made it easy to dissemble and re-assemble everything, no need to fight with the recoil rod and spring

 

[Jems]

Thank you my friend. I appreciate your recommendation on the extractor and the pins - I will order. Yeah, the bolt pins are hit and miss in taking out. Sometimes I can use my fingernails to get them out. Sometimes I to pry one of them with a screwdriver.

I added an additional photo with some comments after your post - you can see what is likely the culprit of the trigger assembly alignment issues. This has gotten worse over time and no doubt is related to the stock shock buffer bending.

Are there any other parts you would recommend upgrading? Thanks again!

The buffer isn’t sitting all the way back in the receiver, it should be flat against it but sitting that way now due to being bent as you mentioned. Get the mcarbo buffer too but bullseye is sold out for now, maybe the steel retainer will straighten it out unless the original buffer is worn out which is why you should upgrade it too.

 

[thegazelle]

The buffer isn’t sitting all the way back in the receiver, it should be flat against it but sitting that way now due to being bent as you mentioned. Get the mcarbo buffer too but bullseye is sold out for now, maybe the steel retainer will straighten it out unless the original buffer is worn out which is why you should upgrade it too.

Before I went to the range today, I took the PC Carbine apart again since I just was not crazy about having to tap in those pins for the trigger assembly to attach it to the receiver.

So I pulled that recoil guide rod and pushed the spring down. I can see that plastic clip was holding the shock buffer on an angle. The hole at the bottom of the shock buffer was definitely worn and slightly elongated / warped - so that's why that clip is moving around - definitely cheap stock component and I put myself on the wait list for the MCarbo shock buffer.

I fixed it and then put it back but it did it again. Same thing happened. The problem is having to put that whole assembly in on an angle and press on the shock buffer, which then puts it out of alignment. The third time I was able to get it in there with a thick/wide butter knife almost acting like a shoehorn, so the pressure is distributed across the whole surface area. This time the clip didn't pop loose / crooked and the shock buffer went in straight. And yup, the trigger assembly's pins went in perfectly the first time with no effort.

But of course all this taking apart and putting together this thing over and over again - for cleaning and maintenance, looks like suffered the first casualty - the inset / captive bolt in the front underside of the receiver (gold ring around it) is starting to strip. I have been putting 65 inch pounds of torque on both that bolt and the one holding the grip. But the front one started to slip today and I can no longer get it to 65. I am not going to try. Because the thing is captive or whatever, I don't know if it's an easy fix to get a replacement at home depot or something. But it will be a while before I try cleaning it again. That's the problem with this thing. My FX9 was one pin, opens up and bolt and charging handle fall out easily to clean. My X95 which I also cleaned today after my range time - one pin out, buttpad piece comes out and whole bolt assembly comes out to clean. I really like my Ruger, but man, I wish the take apart was a tad easier and didn't include torque screws/bolts.

 

[Jems]

Shoot more and clean less once you get your new parts

 

[Gatehouse]

You might want to stop cleaning so often. I wouldn't even consider cleaning one until at least 1000 rounds. Less chance to lose parts and mangle stuff.

 

[thegazelle]

You might want to stop cleaning so often. I wouldn't even consider cleaning one until at least 1000 rounds. Less chance to lose parts and mangle stuff.

I shall definitely heed your advice and clean at bigger intervals, or when I encounter a functionality or performance issue.

 

[Jems]

Mcarbo buffers back in stock at bullseye

 

[thegazelle]

Mcarbo buffers back in stock at bullseye

Lovely! Thanks for the update - weird I didn't get any notification on it even though I signed up.

Hopefully coupled with the upcoming Black Friday sale, I may be able to get this sooner rather than later.

There is now the question of the captured hex screw/bolt in the bottom front of which was starting to strip.

 

[buckbrush]

You made a smart move asking for guidance here. CGN has a large amount of people willing and able to help.

 

[verminaard]

If you ever find yourself contemplating taking the safety apart...reconsider.

If you still want/need to, check out ninjamidget on YouTube. You will save yourself A LOT of time and frustration putting it back together. His video is for the 10/22 safety, but the PC’s is the same.

FWIW, a piece of dowel and a bamboo bbq skewer will substitute just fine for the steel/aluminum rods... at least for a few uses anyway.

 

[Neil Burke]

Appologies if I missed it, but if you haven't, check the u shape retaining washer on the back of the recoil spring that retains the buffer that is resting at an angle. You may need to remove it and flip it 180 and reinstall it. If I remember right there's a little cut out on one side.

 

[thegazelle]

Appologies if I missed it, but if you haven't, check the u shape retaining washer on the back of the recoil spring that retains the buffer that is resting at an angle. You may need to remove it and flip it 180 and reinstall it. If I remember right there's a little cut out on one side.

Hi Neil...thanks for the feedback. That is exactly what I did and that little adjustment allowed the shock buffer to sit at 90 degrees and then the trigger assembly fit in perfectly with the pins.

Definitely a metal retaining clip is far more advantageous than the plastic one. Would be nice if the buffer's bottom hole cut out was not made of plastic - it can and does elongate and warp.

 

[HawkWei]

Took apart 12 to 14 times? damn......I never even cleaned my AR once since 2013 and the only problem I have encounted is Liberal Ban last year which make the gun unable to fire........

 

[M&P 40]

Glad you got it sorted out, you may want to hit them fingernails with some G96

 

[Neil Burke]

Hi Neil...thanks for the feedback. That is exactly what I did and that little adjustment allowed the shock buffer to sit at 90 degrees and then the trigger assembly fit in perfectly with the pins.

Definitely a metal retaining clip is far more advantageous than the plastic one. Would be nice if the buffer's bottom hole cut out was not made of plastic - it can and does elongate and warp.

Personally, I'd have loved if they hadn't made that part directional. If it matters then the part should only go back together one way.