This is posted over at RimfireCentral but I thought it might help people that come to this forum to know where to get these bushings. I have all three types of bushings (Sam’s, BAM’s, and Tandemkross’), a Ruger Mark III 22/45 6 7/8 Hunter, and here are my thoughts regarding each one of these: Most of the following pictures are just thumbnails and if you click on them, you will see a larger picture. FIRST THINGS FIRST: This is one of the easiest and one of the best modifications that you can do with your Ruger Mark III (including 22/45 and LITE) series pistol. In other words, what I’m writing this post about is just concerning Mark III types of pistols (and specifically anything with a Mark III hammer): MKIII MKIII 22-45 MKIII 22-45 Competition MKIII 22-45 Government Target MKIII 22-45 Target MKIII Competition MKIII Government Target MKIII Target MKIII LITE MKIII Hunter If you don't know what you have, this may help: http://www.guntalk-online.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=934 If you have a Mark II and want to replace your hammer bushing for a better trigger feel, go check out http://www.clarkcustomguns.com/ or http://www.volquartsen.com/ because they make bushings for the Mark II hammers. Again, everything from here on out is taking strictly about Mark III pistols. Special thanks to Bullseye for being the originator of the Mark III design for the bushing. Why replace the stock hammer bushing/magazine disconnect: When you replace the stock hammer bushing, you will completely remove the stupid magazine disconnect as well as shown in this picture from Bullseye’s website guntalk-online.com: If you don’t know what a magazine disconnect is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magazine_disconnect#Magazine_disconnects WHAT THIS MODIFICATION DOES: Magazines Fly Right Out! No more prying out bound up magazines after hitting the release button. Simplify Disassembly and Reassembly - No Magazine insertion/removal steps required Clean Up Trigger Slop. Note: The best thing available to really reduce your trigger pull weight is installing a Volqartsen target sear and an adjustable target trigger. Fewer Parts Simplifies Detail Strip WHERE DO I GET ONE AND WHICH ONE? NOTE: These were the 3 manufacturers that actually replied to my review request. These are in order as they were available to the public. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sam Lam’s Bushing: $12.00 shipped. Made of O1 tool steel. Sam is a great guy and lives in Toronto Canada. Basically you just send him an email at [email protected] and he quickly responds with his mailing address. You then send him either cash or check through the mail and about 2+ weeks later, you will receive your bushing (protected by card-stalk and tape) in a regular mail envelope. When I received mine, I was actually surprised that the mail processing machine rollers didn’t press or damage the bushing right out of the envelope. I guess Sam has sent enough to the USA and understands exactly what it needs to get by. He's been doing this for many years now. Sam is a standup guy and stands behind every bushing he sells. I’ve even heard of a customer sending him cash, and it unfortunately got lost in the mail, and yet Sam still sent him the bushing. What does Sam do that is absolutely awesome? Ruger tolerances vary quite a bit, and most people don't know, but Sam will also make you a CUSTOM bushing to precisely fit YOUR hammer and pin if you send them to him. Same charge and turnaround time. UPDATE: Sam will now accept PayPal to the email address above. This is great since it cuts the shipping time in almost half. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BAM Bushing $15.00 shipped. Made of 304 Stainless Steel. “BAM” are the initials of a great guy in Michigan. The perk about him is that he is an active member and sponsor at RFC and is very helpful. Another nice thing is that he has an actual website (http://bushing.webs.com/) where you can quickly order from and even go through a step by step picture guide on how to install a bushing. I personally believe that this is the most helpful online guide to installing these bushings. BAM is easy to contact either here or through email if you ever need any help installing his bushing. His online website is a PayPal web store but feel free to email him at [email protected] if you prefer another form of payment. Shipping is free from Michigan to US addresses and he will try to get parts out within a business day of purchase. Extremely fast shipping, provides tracking number, and has professional packaging (bubble wrap in a mailer envelope). BAM offers an official, written Lifetime Guarantee on his product as well as many ways to contact him if you ever need help installing his or any other bushing. BAM’s bushing is stated to be slightly larger than the factory part and thus the resulting tight fit will reduce or eliminate the trigger slop that is caused by the loose factory bushing. This sometimes requires buyers to literally freeze their bushing overnight in the freezer so that the metal will shrink just enough to fit snugly within the hammer. Some users swear by this tighter fit. (The hammer doesn't pivot on the bushing. Its the hammer+bushing that pivots on the hammer pivot pin.) ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
TANDEMKROSS' Bushing 9.99 + shipping (WITH CODE at RFC) = $11.99. CNC Made of 304 Stainless Steel. COMPANY out of New Hampshire. Also a forum member and sponsor at RFC. Their bushing is designed to be a “drop-in” fit (no freezing or sanding required, regardless on your hammer’s tolerances). Their bushing literally just dropped right in my hammer whereas the previous two required me to barely press them in with my thumb. Tandemkross offers an official, written Lifetime Guarantee on their product. I've heard of stories where a customer has run into problems with taking down their pistol, and the guys at TK set up a Skype session on their time off just to walk the customer through the steps. Who does that these days? How much better can it get from that? These guys make it really easy to be able to order their product as they have a website (http://www.tandemkross.com/), sell their product on Amazon and eBay, and even have phone support/ordering. Yes, they can walk you through the installation on the phone if you need extra help as these Ruger pistols can seem a little complicated at first. It is cheaper to order directly off their website since both Amazon and eBay charge them fees obviously. They also have a great COMBO deals on their website where you can get other upgrades that you want at the same time but with a HUGE discount. Bushing and Ultimate Clip Loader Combo Bushing and LCI filler Combo Bushing and Magazine bumper Combo Interesting to note, here are the links to their Amazon and ebay product feedbacks that they have zero editing control over: AMAZON and EBAY CLICK HERE FOR FELLOW RFC MEMBERS' OPINIONS ABOUT TANDEMKROSS. They provide tracking numbers with every order, extremely fast USA shipping, and professional packaging (bubble mailer). Note that it comes with printed, colored instructions. Occasionally, Tandemkross offers a discount code to lower the cost. They even did free shipping back in September and thus reduced their bushing cost to $9.95. For Father's Day this year they had a bushing blowout for 4.99! They were nice enough to provide those at RFC a permanent discount code exclusive to RimFire Central readers only for $1.99 off their hammer bushings as well. They also offer some awesome aftermarket magazine basepads as seen here: http://www.tandemkross.com/2245-Extended-Magazine-Bumper-Magazine-Bumper-Base-Pad_p_26.html https://www.tandemkross.com/2245-Plus1-Magazine-Bumpers_p_12.html ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MY UNBIASED REVIEW: There ya have it. Might as well help our struggling economy a tiny bit and order an American-made product. I've been happy with the Sam Lam bushing in my gun for the past year, but if I had to do it all over again, it's great to know that we have other options available as I DEFINITELY would order from BAM or Tandemkross without hesitation. They all work the exact same and help improve our guns. I thought about measuring each dimension and listing those here, but it would be pointless. My hammer is different than yours. Dimensions from the bushing manufacturers also can vary between their batches. Just looking at them: My BAM and Tandemkross bushings are probably the ones with the best finish. They both seem to put forth a little more effort to rounding out and deburring the edges. I personally think BAM spends the most time sanding his and Tandemkross spends more time polishing their bushings before they ship them out. This is evident in the pictures below. A better finished bushing can help reduce friction anywhere the bushing touches, and it could provide for a smoother trigger action. That is why I personally recommend one from BAM or Tandemkross. NOTE: This is just my opinion and my observations. What experience do I have with machining? Not a whole lot now as I don't have a lathe or mill currently, but I won state and then competed in the National machining competition in back in 2005. The bushing/hammer can move freely between the safety and the frame. The idea behind the bushing's overall length is to keep the hammer lined up with the bolt and one end or the other could be rubbing on the safety or the frame. There is a little play built in because rubbing on both sides could cause jamming, but the length is enough to properly locate the hammer. The steps on the right side of the bushing ensure that the disconnector can move freely no matter where the hammer bushing falls in that window of play. This is also how one of these aftermarket bushings can increase consistency of your trigger pull. Note the green lines in the picture taken off of BAM's website here where the bushing can and does touch: Regardless on how the bushings “look,” the truth is, all the three types of bushings worked in my pistol. All fit just fine. All performed the functions that they all claim to perform. RANDOMLY installing these bushings in my gun and shooting at the range, I CAN'T TELL A SINGLE DIFFERENCE. Being that I probably represent 99% of the casual shooters that read this, ANY BUSHING WILL WORK JUST GREAT FOR YOU. Obviously a more extensive review after firing thousands of shots which each bushing would have been better, but I wanted to post this thread now and let new-comers know of the great options available. Nothing wrong with good ol’ capitalism at its finest. We really are lucky to have 3 great options and 3 equally outstanding people/companies when it comes to customer satisfaction. I can’t stress enough how friendly and helpful that all 3 of them are. EVERY Mark III owner needs to do this simple modification! -Checcles HOW TO INSTALL THE BUSHINGS: YouTube videos on how to replace your stock hammer bushing with one of the above mentioned aftermarket bushing: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aXmLyXwpMA[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53d8ucGbcqM[/ame] –Tandemkross’ tutorial Picture tutorials: http://imgur.com/a/JFLHm – Taken off of BAM’s website http://www.guntalk-online.com/2245detailstripping.htm#m3dsdisassembly – General disassembly Magazine Bumper Review Click Here
I went with Sam Lam's bushing twice...great guy (for a Canadian), and he has a nice product. As for the lack of instructions, if a guy can't figure this out, I'm wondering if he should be owning any firearms...
SGWGunsmith is a dealer for Sam's bushing. That is why he's so immature and upset when other options are brought up. The purpose of this review was to explain to people what the modification does and their options. If everyone that reads it buys a particular type of bushing - I don't receive a dime from that (unlike SGW does). He's almost been banned many times at RFC. I dare any of the readers to message any of the administrators over there and ask which one of us is in better standing. The fact that I don't contribute financially to the site is because I'm a full time student and can't. If you actually read the review, I speak highly of all of three bushing manufacturers because you can't go wrong with any of them. All their bushings work great. I understand that Sam Lam was the first to mass produce a working hammer bushing. I respect his ingenuity and compassion to figure it out. The problem is, he never patented his part and so it left room for others to come up with their designs too. You always say "original" yet you probably aren't typing on an Apple computer nor driving a Ford car. BAM has stated that he's never even seen a Sam Lam bushing. He machines difficult robotic parts, why couldn't he come up with a simple bushing? I remember that while learning to use a lathe in school that our first project had more tolerances and more complexities than these simple bushings do. Tandemkross didn't even know that BAM existed before they came out with theirs. Proof of all this, and you are right, is that they originally came out with their bushing in aluminum. They then noticed the demand for steel bushings and went with the customer's wishes without raising the price. They even replaced all those aluminum bushings for free (shipping included) if they were contacted about it. Funny how you degrade other makers while they have the most respect toward one another. Let people decide for themselves what to buy. Oh PS - that nasty PM that you sent me was disgusting and really shows your immaturity. I would never say those phrases to another human being like you did.
Exactly what a biased dealer would say. You're the one that advertises. Again, I make zero dollars if any of these bushings sell. The fact that you get all defensive about it shows who really is involved financially in these bushings. I don't favor anyone really as my review simply just states the facts. If it makes you feel any better, I have a BAM bushing in my gun right now as I think that he makes one of the best ones (and yet they all work the same...). That's my opinion and I chose to respect yours. I do also state that there are equally great options for us here with products made in the USA. There is nothing wrong with those statements as they are the truth. Don't lecture me on what I should spend my money on either. I'm not in the business of trying to gain customers like you are. No one while in medical school has a job. It's impossible. Sorry you don't understand that. I'm done arguing online...all I wanted to do was help people by posting this so they knew what the modification does and what ones they can decide from.
I am ordering the TANDEMKROSS hammer bushing right now actually... For my Ruger Mark III 22/45 RP, HATE the magazine disconnect.. With a passion Glockinator19
I went with TandemKross... kits for Hammer Bushing (mag release) and Replacement LCI. While I can follow instructions OK, the Hammer Bushing job took over an hour because I had not taken the Mark III down that far before and am a novice at modifying my guns. Good news is it works great and is a definite plus to the pistol. The LCI swapout went very easily but the bolt still wont stay open on the last round. I think I need to go back in and put some Loctite on the screw that holds the LCI. Any suggestions on getting the bolt to stay open would be appreciated. TK also has an inexpensive Mk III/22-45 toolkit that is great for removing the mainspring, etc.
Don't mean to hijack the thread but I too have a Mark III that won't lock open on the last round. Can't figure out why. Great thread about the bushings, OP. Thank you very much.
Hammer Bushing Part Deux I installed the TandemKross hammer bushing in my MkIII and was very pleased with the results. Magazines popped right out every time. However the slide would not stay open after last round. Then I recently purchased 2 new MkIII mags from Ruger and found that a. they would not 'pop' out and in fact I had to struggle to pull them out ...but b. the bolt stayed open after last round. Go figger. I gave away the new mags. Why is this such a problem???
my view This chain is why I bought the tandemkross 1.5 years ago. It has worked perfectly in all aspects since. I have fired over 2700 rounds through my 22/45 mk3 like I said pretty much perfect. Mag disconnect fixed, mags drop out perfectly, last round hold open functions as designed. cant ask for anything more.
