Experiences with Wolff reduced power hammer spring for Marlin 1894?

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

I recently acquired a 357/38 JM Marlin 1894 Cowboy Limited lever gun that had been slicked up, but I don't know when or by whom.  It runs well.  Over a 2-day 16-stage "ironman" match last weekend, I had exactly one round fail to go bang, so the gun can't be said to be light-striking even though that's what it looked like.  The hammer spring is pretty light IMHO.  Just so that I know what I'm dealing with, I'm thinking of replacing it with the reduced power cowboy action hammer spring sold by Wolff Gunsprings.  Does anyone have anything good (or bad, for that matter) to say about that spring?  I have installed Wolff springs on many guns and have always found them to be excellent products, and don't have any reason to doubt this one either.  But there's the old say "if it ain't broke don't fix it" banging around in between my ears ....

ND

[The Surgeon]

For the cost of the spring get it and try it out. if it seems the same then you just have a backup spring if you ever need it. 

[Preacherman]

Just a thought before you mess with the spring. What brand primers are you using? If just one it could be a bad one or a high primer maybe?

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

20 minutes ago, Preacherman said:

Just a thought before you mess with the spring. What brand primers are you using? If just one it could be a bad one or a high primer maybe?

I assume it was just a bad primer -- one failure-to-go-boom in 16 stages cannot be blamed on the rifle.  I'm only thinking about changing out the spring for peace of mind and certainty.  I'm reasonably sure that Wolff designs their hammer spring to be primer brand agnostic.

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

22 minutes ago, Preacherman said:

Just a thought before you mess with the spring. What brand primers are you using? If just one it could be a bad one or a high primer maybe?

I'm a firm believer in making the gun eat whatever I feed it, and not in having to shop at specialty boutiques for only certain brands of gun food.

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

I think I have Wolff springs in my marlin, been 20 years can't be sure. I originally had Ruger spring I cut down that was so lite I would loose control of the lever. I bought after market springs and have never had trouble since. You may be able to place a washer or 2 behind that spring and get a bit more power.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Are you using a one piece firing pin or the factory 2 piece?

Are you able to remove the buttstock? 

 

 

[Widder, SASS #59054]

Wolff springs are good and should serve you well.   If you put a Wolff spring in the Marlin 1894 and start

to have firing issues, its probably the primer, a high primer, or a short firing pin.

 

For me, I use a Ruger 10/22 hammer spring, uncut IF it fits, along with a washer on the hammer strut.

Put the washer between the collar of the hammer strut and the front of the spring.   This keeps it from

crawling over the collar.

 

IF you use a Ruger spring, be sure to test your hammer cocking ability without it binding or crunching

the spring.   If it does bind, just start trimming the spring 1/2 coil at a time until the hammer can fully

cock without any binding.

 

Regardless of which spring you use....... I would always advise using a small washer with it.

 

Now that I've said all that and used up my black ink, probably the simplest thing to do is

call LONGHUNTER and order his spring.    You should get good bangs with it on any brand

primer.

 

Good luck.

 

EDIT:  springs will eventually lose some of their strength and when we try to set

up rifles with light hammer springs, just to make them feel great, losing just an

ounce of hammer strength can sometimes give us a no-fire.

Properly tuned and set-up Marlins can run even heavy springs (like the Ruger 10/22 hammer

spring) and still not have any adverse feeling in the functioning of the rifle.

 

..........Widder

 

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

Thanks, all, for the collective wisdom and advice.  I've disassembled this gun completely (and what I found inside is a different story); working on any part of it not a problem for me.  I had heard about the Ruger 10/22 spring too.  I received the Wolff spring in today's mail, so I'm set to do the swap if I think the lightened spring that's in it now has "softened" a wee bit too much over time.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

3 hours ago, Nostrum Damus SASS #110702 said:

Thanks, all, for the collective wisdom and advice.  I've disassembled this gun completely (and what I found inside is a different story); working on any part of it not a problem for me.  I had heard about the Ruger 10/22 spring too.  I received the Wolff spring in today's mail, so I'm set to do the swap if I think the lightened spring that's in it now has "softened" a wee bit too much over time.

What FP are you using?

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

1-piece

9 minutes ago, The Original Lumpy Gritz said:

What FP are you using?

unitary 1-piece

[Nostrum Damus SASS #110702]

OK, backstory -- when I received it I just did a quick clean and took it to the range -- after all, it was really pretty and clean -- on the outside.  I couldn't get through a single mag tube without multiple jams and failure-to-fire events, and it looked for all the world like it was light-striking.  Then I took it back to the shop and disassembled it to the last component part.  All I can say is that it did not look like the action had been opened since the gun was new, some 20 years ago.  Caked on, baked on grit, grime, sludge, and carbon everywhere, actually preventing a number of metal-to-metal contact surfaces from making actual contact.  After solvents, brass brushing, brake cleaner, etc. and then VERY light oiling at just the critical locations, I put it all back together and, what do you know, 16 stages without a jam, and just one failure to fire which I attributed to a low primer.  Amazing how that works, huh?

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

Did you clean the inside of the magazine tube? 

Primers should always be seated to the bottom of the primer cup.

Go to a good bolt house and buy 2-3 #10 AN washers. Use them to shim the hammer spring.

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

About that one failure to fire...I don't know about Marlins but on toggle guns if you are running fast and the trigger pull is a hair early or late, it can give a light strike.

[Turkey Flats Jack]

57 minutes ago, Abilene, SASS # 27489 said:

About that one failure to fire...I don't know about Marlins but on toggle guns if you are running fast and the trigger pull is a hair early or late, it can give a light strike.

That is a common problem with my marlins due to having a straight trigger installed. You have to disable the lever safety to use the brand of flat trigger I'm running. Took practice but I haven't had that problem in a long time.