Who can work on a Vintage Marlin for me?

[Flaco Joe]

I have a vintage 1894 Marlin in .44-40 that is in decent shape, but does not feed rounds reliably. I don’t have a local gun smith that I would trust could work on an old lever gun. And the work I need is not for competition per se. Can you suggest a gun smith that can look it over for me?

 

Thanks

[Bailey Creek,5759]

I have had Huckleberry fix a couple of Vintage Rifles for me.

Very happy with his work.

[Flaco Joe]

Bailey, tried to PM you but your mailbox is full.

[Warden Callaway]

Can you take it apart and put it back together?  If so, you can probably fix the problem. 

 

First, clean magazine tube,  follower,  and polish the porthole where the cartridges pass through. Almost every instance,  the magazine spring needs replaced.  I've found on my old Marlins, this is often all it needs. 

 

If it's feeding and lifting the cartridge but not extracting, start by removing the extractor and cleaning out the hole, etc. Extractors and ejectors from modern 1894s won't work in the early ones. Wisner has reproduction parts.  

[Flaco Joe]

I can do all of those. I’ll check Wisner for a new spring. Thanks

[Flaco Joe]

Is there any reason why a modern Marlin tube spring won’t work in a vintage rifle? 

[Warden Callaway]

3 hours ago, Flaco Joe said:

Is there any reason why a modern Marlin tube spring won’t work in a vintage rifle? 

 

The magazine spring should be the same - either large or small. .

 

The major difference is the hammer spring being a flat leaf vs coil.  And the extractor and ejector being different.   

 

The carrier has some kind of toggle part in a window cutout instead of the plunger button.  I've never had to replace one.  

[Warden Callaway]

A tip on taking the action apart - I use a small pair of needle-nose vise grips with jaws padded with tape to compress the flat hammer spring.  Cock the hammer and then clamp down right behind the hammer with the vise grips.  Leave the grips holding the spring until after hammer is reassembled.  

[Flaco Joe]

Thanks again for the advice.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

On 12/3/2021 at 1:23 AM, Flaco Joe said:

Thanks again for the advice.

Can you post some pictures for us to see?

OLG 

[Flaco Joe]

[Warden Callaway]

Trivia.  Was produced sometime time after 1907.  They shortened the model name to just 94 like Winchester did the 1892 to 92 and 1894 to 94.  They weren't a regular produced item after Marlin converted to making machines guns in WWI.  After the war, they were not a catalog item but some were made from parts on special order. 

 

Did you scrub all the finish off?  

[Flaco Joe]

Interesting. Guys on the Marlin Forum told me it was circa 1912 to 1915.

 

I bought it in this condition. Functionally, it’s in good order and I have shot it. It just doesn’t feed well from the tube. It will feed one round from the magazine, but loading two or more and it binds somehow.

[Warden Callaway]

It's also drilled and tapped for the Hepburn sight.  The Skinner sight is a ripoff of the Hepburn. The original Hepburn sight are vary valuable. 

 

I have several "94s".

[Scarlett]

If I had a Marlin I wanted worked on, I’d send it to @Slater in Louisville Tennessee. He owns @Slater's In House Guns 

 

Hugs!

Scarlett

[Widder, SASS #59054]

9 minutes ago, Scarlett said:

If I had a Marlin I wanted worked on, I’d send it to @Slater in Louisville Tennessee. He owns @Slater's In House Guns 

 

Hugs!

Scarlett

 

Hey Scarlett.

And Slater would probably end up bringing it over to my house and give me the proverbial headache..... 

 

He is doing a good job on Marlin's but right now, he's swamped with Henry .22 work.

 

..........Widder