Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires Ruger Mark I Magazine Issue

A friend bought an older Ruger Mark I Standard Model 22 auto pistol. The magazine doesn't work correctly. The top round chambers ok but subsequent rounds stick down and don't advance up into loading position and chamber. I looked for a replacement magazine from various vendors for Mark I pistols but they all seem have the loading assist button on the wrong side of the magazine. . Any ideas what's going on or where I can get a mag that fits a very old Mark I? SN is 10-22xxx

I've gotten them on eBay and other places. They are nine round mags. I have several and never had feeding problems. Probably bent lips or damaged follower.

bunches on ebay for about $26 each

I have a very early Ruger standard auto,A-100 frame,when i got a spare magazine,the loading button was on the wrong side also,i believe i just pulled the button off and put it on the other side.Been awhile,but try that first.

Thanks for the replies.Ordered one.

In the mean time, order a new spring for the old magazine, and clean the hell out of the mag before you put the new spring in...May just salvage that mag.

Thank you for the idea. It looks like the the bottom of the magazine (which is silver) is very securly peened in with 4 punches so probably ruin it by removal. I'm leaning toward believing it's the follower that may be the culprit. The magazine lips appear to be aligned ok.

One other observation: the bolt doesn't automatically lock open after the last shot...but I'm not sure it's supposed to. I know that the safety can be used to lock the bolt in the open position.

Mark 1's don't lock open. Mark 2 mags work great in my Mark 1 and have the easily removable base plate.

That's been my experience too. I just did not know if that was true with the OP pistol since he said it was so old??? I remember buying a MK1, and the mags were selling for very high dollars on ebay. Probably to collectors, or people that did not know you could use the MK2 mags in their pistols. I paid $300 for the pistol, and sold the mags for about $80.00 each. It cut the cost of the pistol in half. Worked out very well because I already had plenty of MK2 mags. I don't think the mk1 mags are as desirable or expensive now. I saw 2 new ones the other day at a LGS and they were like $20 each..

Thanks for that! I just bought a repro mag for not too much. Appreciate the help!!

I just received a new, current production Mark I magazine ($26) and followed the instructions on the package. Took less than 5 minutes to disassemble, move the thumb button to the opposite side and reassemble. Works just fine!

Also learned that you can make the 9-shot factory magazine into a 10-shot by making a minor modification to the follower (if that matters).

Thanks again to everyone for all the help.
Hunter1

LC Hunter check your pm's.