• Home
  • About BlueSheepdog
    • Index
    • Privacy Policy
    • Online Resources
  • Police Training Articles
    • Field Training Officer
    • Firearms Training Articles
    • General Training Articles
    • Officer Safety Training Articles
  • Gear Reviews
    • Gear Reviews
    • Gun Reviews
    • Flashlight Reviews
    • Knife Reviews & Information on Knives
    • Review Policy
  • Blog

Blue Sheepdog

Police Gear Reviews, Training and Officer Safety Tips.

You are here: Home / Firearms / Ruger Recalls New Mark IV Pistols!

Ruger Recalls New Mark IV Pistols!

By Aaron

Ruger has announced a safety notice and recall of all Mark IV and 22/45 pistols.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. announced a product safety notice and recall for all of their popular new Mark IV pistols.

Page Navigation

  • Ruger Mark IV Safety Recall
    • Issue #1: Failure to Fire
    • Issue #2: Fires When Safety Activated
    • Issue #3: Fire When Intended Safe
  • Models Affected
  • Final Thoughts

This recall will include the new 22/45 models of the Mark IV as well and involves all pistols manufactured prior to June 1, 2017. Ruger has discovered these pistols have the potential to unintentionally discharge if the safety is not properly utilized.

The safety notice and recall sounds a lot like legalese to me. Obviously, if a manual safety is not engaged correctly a pistol is primed to fire under the right conditions. This sounds a lot more like a part in the safety mechanism itself may not engage, leading the shooter to believe the pistol is on “safe” when in fact the safety is not engaged and the pistol is primed to fire.

This safety notice and recall DOES NOT include any of the previous Mark I, Mark II, or Mark III line of pistols. Read on for more details on this safety notice and recall.

The new Mark IV pistols provided a simple push-button breakdown feature.

Ruger Mark IV Safety Recall

According to Sturm, Ruger & Co. the potential hazard with the Mark IV pistols centers around the trigger being pulled when the safety lever is somewhere between “fire” and “safe.”

This situation creates a safety that is not fully engaged, nor is it fully disengaged. That much seems pretty straight-forward. Again, this should not be a big surprise for any shooter carrying a pistol with a manual safety lever, though a misplaced safety lever is rare as they are most often designed to spring into place after overcoming a form of resistance.

Issue #1: Failure to Fire

However, the true safety issue appears to be when the safety lever is in a midway point and then the trigger is pulled. There is a potential the pistol may not fire when the shooter mistakenly believed the pistol was in the “fire” position. On the range, this presents a “cease-fire” situation to safely analyze the situation. However, if the pistol is being used in a self-defense manner this creates a critical life-or-death flaw.

Prior to this recall the Ruger Mark IV was having a very popular release.

Issue #2: Fires When Safety Activated

To complicate matters more, if the Mark IV pistol safety lever is in this midway condition and does not fire when the trigger is pulled, there is a potential for the pistol to immediately fire upon the safety lever being moved to the full “fire” position.

Apparently the trigger can pre-set to fire (with released tension) that is only stopped by the minimal intrusion of the misplaced safety lever. When the safety lever is then moved out-of-the-way and into the “fire” position, the pre-set trigger completes the action and fires a round.

This condition is perhaps the most dangerous, as common firearms safety protocols mandate shooters place their firearm on “safe” after a misfire, prior to examining the firearm for its malfunction. Of course, the number one safety rule of “keep your muzzle pointed in a safe direction at all times” still holds true, but one could easily see how a shooter attempting to make his pistol “safe” in these conditions could suffer an unintentional discharge where the muzzle may not be in an ideal position.

Issue #3: Fire When Intended Safe

There is also a potential the pistol will fire as if the safety was in the “fire” position when the shooter believed the safety was engaged. Since the midway safety lever is not fully engaged, the shooter is confronted with a variety of unintended discharge situations. If the shooter was intending to fire the safety flaw may not even be realized. However, if the shooter believed the pistol was on “safe” this could create a tragic accidental discharge (AD). I say accidental discharge here, do to a potential discharge resulting from a mechanical error rather than a safety violation performed by the shooter.

Ruger has stated that only a small percentage of Mark IV pistols have exhibited this condition, and the company is not aware of any injuries or deaths as a result of this malfunction.

Ruger 22/45 pistols are also a part of this safety notice and recall (here one of the “Lite” models).

Models Affected

According to Ruger:

All Mark IV pistols produced prior to June 1, 2017 are potentially affected and therefore are being recalled. This includes Mark IV Target, Hunter, Competition, 22/45, 22/45 Lite and 22/45™ Tactical models.

These models bear serial numbers beginning with “401” (2017 models) or “WBR” (2016 models).

Final Thoughts

No firearms manufacturer wants a product to fail, especially in regards to safety features. However, Ruger appears to be moving quickly to get in front of this problem and to make things right. Owners of Ruger Mark IV pistols can visit Ruger’s website to determine if their firearm is affected, and if so how to return the pistol for Ruger to upgrade the pistol to make it safe. Have your pistol’s serial number handy.

Ruger has announced that newly manufactured Mark IV pistols will begin with a serial number of “500” and have already been retrofitted to meet safety requirements. In addition, the new Ruger Mark IV and 22/45 pistols will add a black “S” in the white safety dot on the side of the frame.

The new Mark IV pistols will add a black “S” in the white dot indicating “safe.”

We applaud Ruger for moving quickly to announce this safety issue to the public, and to make things right by fixing their firearms. When a firearms manufacturer is open and forthright, we should applaud and continue to support them.

Any manufacturing process can result in minor errors leading to big problems. The real test of a manufacturer’s worth is how they respond to that discovery. Ruger appears to be responding in an appropriate manner.

This safety lever failure is eerily similar to the safety failure on Remington 700 rifles. That problem appears to have been noted for years without Remington’s acknowledgment.

I personally witnessed one of our police department’s sniper rifles discharge when the safety lever was moved to “fire” and without the trigger being manipulated. Unfortunately, it took a court order for the safety notice and recall to be issued.

Big Green continues to take hits as they have suffered several high-profile failures in recent years with the Model 887 shotgun. Hopefully, they can take Ruger’s approach as an example of how to handle a problem.

In Stock Right Now

Handgun Ammo

Rifle Ammo

Guns

Today’s Most Read

  • Smith and Wesson Bodyguard 380 Review
    Smith and Wesson Bodyguard 380 Review
  • Diamondback DB9 Review
    Diamondback DB9 Review
  • .308 Sniper Ammo: One Sniper's View [Updated]
    .308 Sniper Ammo: One Sniper's View [Updated]
  • Best 1-4x Scope Guide: Our Recommendations for Affordable Optics that Won't Break the Bank
    Best 1-4x Scope Guide: Our Recommendations for Affordable Optics that Won't Break the Bank
  • International Driver's License: Legit or Scam?
    International Driver's License: Legit or Scam?
  • Carlson's Tactical Breacher Muzzle Brake
    Carlson's Tactical Breacher Muzzle Brake
  • Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 Holster Guide
    Smith & Wesson Bodyguard 380 Holster Guide
  • SIG P229 E2 Review
    SIG P229 E2 Review
  • The Ten Deadly Errors
    The Ten Deadly Errors
  • Traffic Stop Safety
    Traffic Stop Safety

BlueSheepdog.com is dedicated to providing no nonsense police gear reviews, law enforcement information, officer safety tips and more. Founded by a cop and written by cops, BSD is independently owned and operated.

Popular Posts

•Best Bail Out Bag for Police
•No Guns for Police at Disney World
•ETS Glock 42 and Glock 43 Magazines •LAPD's New Backup Guns
•Broken Recruits: Common Field Training Problems and Solutions
•Police Knives - Training & Reviews
•Six Things That Can Save Your Life

Copyright © 2023 · BlueSheepdog.com

BlueSheepdog.com is a for-profit website. I do not charge readers a dime to access the information I provide. Some of the links on this page and site are affiliate links to companies like Amazon and Palmetto State Armory. These links take you to the products mentioned in the article. Should you decide to purchase something from one of those companies, I make a small commission.