Little bit of scuffing on left side of Ruger Mark III bolt...cause for concern?

Question

I have a great new Ruger Mark III KMKIII512, 5.5" bull-barrel .22LR pistol. I picked it up from the shop and took it out for a few hours of fun yesterday, running several hundred rounds through it with nearly no problems (2 jams from known-crappy ammo, same box of ammo jammed 2 other guns the same day for me....'nuff said).

The gun performed flawlessly, putting cute little holes in targets as best I could aim them.....but I noticed a pretty good scuff mark on the left side of the bolt when it's retracted that isn't there on the right. Again, the gun worked well...but asymmetric wear always concerns me on something new.

Should I be concerned about this? What should I check/do? I have not taken the pistol apart yet.

Remember, this is not a 1911..

http://www.gunblast.com/images/Ruger_MarkIII-Hunter/1Mvc-017f.jpg

This pic shows the bolt retracted. If you can picture the bolt opened (pulled back by its ears) the scuffing is on the surface of the bolt itself where it telescopes into the frame during its normal action.

Like I said, only reason it raised any concern at all was it was on the left side of the bolt and not the right.

By 'retracted' I mean closed..and no, given where it is, the concern was not at all aesthetic..just wanted to be sure it wasn't a symptom of another issue. Thanks for the answers so far, keep 'em comin' :)

Answer 1

Don't worry be happy.* Forget about it, keep shooting.*

Answer 2

As a Gunsmith, I can't imagine from your description how the side of the Bolt would get "scuffed" however if the function of the pistol is unaffected I would not worry about it. It is probably just a question of aesthetics's and has no effect on the function..

I would also suggest that unless you have extensive experience field stripping this particular model of Ruger Pistol, that you refrain from taking it completely apart.

If in fact the scuff is located on the back of the slide went in the rearward position and is far enough back as not to interfere with the pistol "frame" you might be able to polish out the scuff with a Dremel Moto-Tool and with a cotton wheel and some jewelers rouge. If this is too much, than I suggest you take it to your nearest Gunsmith and have the scuff mark "Buffed" out. It is a simple and inexpensive procedure.....

Answer 3

as long as it is performing as expected, I wouldn't place too much significance on it, sounds to be like the bolt might be untrue, which shouldn't effect the guns performance....