Feeding problems

[Irish Tom]

I have a Marlin 1895 Cowboy in 45-70. The gun has been shot very little and I am having a feeding problem with it. About every 2nd or 3rd round will not come completely out of the mag tube. Hangs up about half way down the carrier. I have checked overall length and it's OK. I have had this problem with 300gr factory ammo and with 405gr reloads. I have used three different brands of brass and nothing seems to help. The gun is completely stock, I bought it new. I tried stretching the mag tube spring, that didn't work either. Any suggestions?

 

Irish Tom.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

The carrier is not clearing the mag. tube area to allow the cases to pass.

Make sure ALL the screws on that rifle are TIGHT....

How hard is it to load?

Cheers,

LG

[Box Herder, SASS 73857]

=1 Lump Grits-

 

Also check the over all length of your round. Mine is very fussy on the OAL of the round.

 

Load it up with Goex and let her shoot- great rifle!

[Irish Tom]

Gun loads normally. Just hangs up every 2nd or 3rd round. Checked all screws, they are tight.

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

IT

 

Take a look inside , to see if there is something binding up the carrier , Maybe a burr on the piviot point or something stopping it from going all the way down , in the front , by the mag tube .

I had one act up tike that , tore it down cleaned very well , and it never did it again , I never found what was cuasing it to stick , evert thing looked clean and oiled , only thing I can guess , there was some sand or a small metal shaving I did not see .

 

CB

[Widder, SASS #59054]

just curious:

 

is this happening while your working the lever downward and the lever also gets stuck or is it after the lever has fully opened and your trying to finish your cycling efforts?

 

 

..........Widder

[Barry Sloe]

Look at the carrier very closely. My .44 had a verrrry light scribe mark across the carrier which caused the famous "Marlin Jam". My brother hardened the carrier and everything is fine now.

Don't know if this is the same problem as yours or not.

 

Barry Sloe

[Irish Tom]

just curious:

 

is this happening while your working the lever downward and the lever also gets stuck or is it after the lever has fully opened and your trying to finish your cycling efforts?

 

 

..........Widder

 

 

It happens when the lever is fully downward. The round comes about half way out of the mag tube and stops. I can use a screwdriver to gently pull on the rim to get the round out of the tube. I cleaned the mag tube and stretched the spring. Not sure if replacing the spring or the red plastic follower would help or not. The carrier does look kind rough, like a lot of tool marks. Maybe that is the problem. Dunno.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Tom,

 

First off, let me say that I'm always cautious about putting this stuff on the Wire because your situation may be so minor that a quick look from a local gunsmith might reveal the true cause and fix it easy.

 

If you can do this test:

 

If you have dummy rounds, that would be good. But, feel free to use live stuff because you will be doing this test with the bolt OUT of the rifle.

 

1. Remove the lever, bolt and ejector.

 

2. Now, replace the lever. (NOTE: if your carrier is in an up position, push it back down before putting the lever back in. You should be able to push it back down with your finger.

 

3. put some rounds in the mag tube (3 or 4). Now, SLOWLY cycle the action. As each round comes completely onto the carrier, just tilt your rifle alittle and roll that round out in your hand.

Continue to cycle these rounds UNTIL you get your problemed jam. THEN, don't force anything but here is what MIGHT tell you about your problem.

When that jam occurs, slightly loosen your left side screw and then the hammer screw. You don't have to remove them....just loosen them.

 

THEN: start loosening your bottom floor place screw which will allow the bottom portion of the receiver to drop alittle. Once this starts dropping just a few .000's, watch to see if that jammed/stuck round clears the magtube and feeds correctly onto the carrier.

 

IF all this works as described above, your issue is 'probably' a timing issue which can be easily fixed.

And assuming this is the issue, I would think that your timing is advancing alittle 'too quick'.

 

Rough marks on your carrier are not good signs AND rough marks on the front portion of your carrier that rides up close to your frame at the Mag Tube entrance are not good signs and can be easily fixed.

 

If you would like to holler at me, feel free to.

 

day: 865/215-3059

evenings: 865/984-4455

 

 

..........Widder

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Get rid of that POS plastic mag. follower.

IIRC, Long Hunter Supply has SS replacements.

Take some 400 grit wet-or-dry and polish the top of your carrier and where the cartridge enters the action.

Leave the mag spring alone

Respectfully,

LG

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Get rid of that POS plastic mag. follower.

IIRC, Long Hunter Supply has SS replacements.

Take some 400 grit wet-or-dry and polish the top of your carrier and where the cartridge enters the action.

Leave the mag spring alone

Respectfully,

LG

 

YEP! I use Longhunters stuff in my Marlins.....1-piece firing pins, spring kits, SS mag tube follower and even magtube springs.

 

Even 600 grit will give you a little nicer shine. Ifn ya want it like a mirror, buff it out with some of that 555 polish from Brownell's. Good stuff.

 

 

..........Widder

[Irish Tom]

Widder.

Thanks for the advice. I will try what you said and let you know what happens. I believe I will also order the Long Hunter spring and follower. The carrier does look kinda rough and I'm sure it could benefit from a little polishing. If I need to take the gun to a smith I may have him polish it.

[Irish Tom]

Widder.

 

I performed the test as you described. Sure enough, after turning the bottom screw a couple turns, the round popped right out of the mag tube. So, I now assume that the main problem is timing? How does one go about fixing that? Thanks again for your help.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Hey Tom.

 

If I understand this correctly, your jam occurred while the lever was in the opened position and as you turned the bottom screw, the jam cleared itself onto the carrier correctly.

 

If this is correct, if appears to me that you timing is off just a few .000 and we want to make sure its adjusted in the right spot.

 

I gotta ask a couple questions first.

 

1. does it appear if anyone has builtup the ramp on the bottom of the carrier just alittle OR, has anyone added alittle metal to the snail cam on the lever, usually done by a good TIG welder.

 

Here is why I ask. What you want to try and do is remove some metal. And in my guess right now, I would remove just a little off the UPPER HALF (or highest portion) of the carrier ramp (bottom of the carrier). We're only talkin about a few .000, probably around 10/thousandths, which ain't much but sometimes makes everything perfect again.

 

WARNING NOTICE: TAKING TO MUCH OFF AT THIS LOCATION CAN ALSO OFFSET YOUR TIMING AND START CAUSING THE TYPICAL MARLIN JAM.

 

HERE IS WHAT HAPPENS: When your lever is fully open, the snail cam on your lever has rolled to the upper portion (usually the upper 1/3) of that ramp and if there is tooooo much of an incline on the ramp, the final rotation of that snail cam causes the carrier to rise just alittle to much to quickly and pinches that cartridge coming out of the mag tube. That is what 'appears' to be your interference. And because its on the borderline for proper timing, that is why it gives you good feeds sometimes and jams alittle on other times.

 

When you loosened that bottom screw, it allowed the carrier to drop alittle into its correct timing position.

Removing just a 'whisper' of steel on the uppor portion of your carrier ramp should correct your problem.

 

You can keep your bolt out of the rifle as you work on it and retest it as you progress and you should be able to look down into your action alittle and see how things are working.

 

Just remember to snug all your screws each time you put your rifle back together or you won't get a true reading of your timing.

 

I'm home for the evening and ifn ya would like to give me a holler, feel free.

 

865/984-4455

 

..........Widder

[Irish Tom]

The gun is completely stock. I bought the gun new a few years ago, but have just recently started shooting it.

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Tom,

 

if your not familiar or comfortable with doing this type work, try to find you good Marlin gunsmith.

 

Tell him your problem, ask him to check it over, and also tell him what WE talked about even though I wasn't able to visually check it out.

 

I wouldn't take it to just any gunsmith but rather one with some Marlin knowledge, especially when it comes to the timing.

 

One thing I've found out is that some of your Cowboy smiths can handle stuff like this just as well as anyone.

 

Let me also say that the other info given by others in these post is good info. Without actually looking at your rifle, your problem could be something more minor.

But based on your descriptions and the occurences, I'm guessing that its a minor timing situation that can be easily fixed.

 

Keep in touch and let me know if I can help any further.

 

..........Widder

[Irish Tom]

Thank ya Widder.