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Marlin 1894 short stroked


Chicago kidd

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Cowboy Carty.  Over $800 last I knew

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On 12/27/2023 at 8:57 PM, Chicago kidd said:

Hello can they slick up a marlin 38/357 and short stoke if if so where can I get it done and price thank you

You do know that short stroking a Marlin doesn’t result in a short stroke like on  a ‘73, don’t you?

 

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I had my Marlin Cowboy Comp done by Slick Maclaide about 6 years ago.

It runs smooth as silk, feeds any OAL .38 spl and even cycles empty brass.

Now I hope I didn't jinks myself saying that.

Coyote Kid

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1 hour ago, Coyote Kid, SASS#54714 said:

I had my Marlin Cowboy Comp done by Slick Maclaide about 6 years ago.

It runs smooth as silk, feeds any OAL .38 spl and even cycles empty brass.

Now I hope I didn't jinks myself saying that.

Coyote Kid

Not short stroked... More than likely.

 

Phantom

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Years back, Slick came up from Louisiana to E.TN to hang around my little gunshot and brought 3 Marlins with him.

Over the next 3 days, we turned those 3 Marlins into Widdermatics and Slick went back home and started modifying

Marlins, with my blessings to call them Widdermatics.

 

He did a great job and modified probably a few hundred.

 

Remington took over Marlin and quality made it hard to work on some of them, whether they be modified or not.

Parts were getting nearly impossible to get, atleast in a timely manner.   All of this made it very difficult to work on

Marlin 1894's.

 

Like myself, most of the Marlin 1894's that Slick and I worked on were modified into the 'Widdermatic' mod, mainly due

to the way the carrier was modified.

 

Another bit of history:   I did not originally start calling my mod the 'Widdermatic'.   I had created the modification and

didn't tell anyone for about 6 months what I had done because I was testing it in all the local matches.

But, because it was performing so well, the guys using those fast 66's and 73's starting calling it the 'Widdermatic'

because it seemed to never jam or have any feeding issues.    Therefore, the name 'Widdermatic' became its name

and stuck.

 

Shortly after, I converted the .45 Colt caliber Marlin into running the Cowboy 45 Special (C45S) without having the need

for a short stroke modification.   Then, I shortly modified that .45 Marlin to feed the C45S and the .45 Colt cartridge

interchangeably without having any feeding or jam issues because I incorporated a 'timing curve' into the carrier ramp.

Worked perfectly.   I even did a good YouTube video of running one.

 

So, there you have it..... from the horses (jackass) mouth.  :lol:

 

Y'all have a good day.

 

..........Widder

 

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Widdow's modification makes the Marlin sing.  I found that I could do well with the regular slicked up Marlin, especially if I used cartridges loaded to the 357 Mag length.  It was slightly faster than most folks could shoot it.  I got a lot of positive comments.  But when I tried to speed up more, I found a "speed limit" of .39 to  .40 second splits.  Any faster and I got hangups. 

So I switched to the 66 and 73 with short strokes and was able to get .2 second splits pretty easily.

Then tried one of the guns Widdow and crew had done and it was just as fast as my short stroked 73.  So they got around the issues that caused the "speed limit."

 

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20 hours ago, Marauder SASS #13056 said:

.  But when I tried to speed up more, I found a "speed limit" of .39 to  .40 second splits.  Any faster and I got hangups. 

 

 

 

Ah yes, the built in Marlin 'governor' that raises its ugly head when the rifle if functioned 'real' fast...... as in Cowboy fast.

 

Here's how that happens, especially on the .38/357 calibers.  It can happen with the .44 and .45 calibers, but not as extreme, and I'll 

explain why.

 

The factory Marlin .38/357 carrier is built up in the middle portion of the carrier.   This design allows the cartridge to rise up in a 

basic level position as the bolt pushes the round into the chamber.

Once the Live round is pushed into the chamber, the carrier falls back down and the next cartridge coming out of the portal

moves into position and sits on the front half of the carrier,  depicted by being able to see its rim at the load gate.

 

Now, before I go any further, I need to explain this detail to the non-gunsmiths on the Wire.   Your Cowboy gunsmiths know

this.   The reason you can see that round at the loading gate is because THE LEVER is holding it in position.  When functioning

the action, the round follows the lever back and when the lever (the portion inside the receiver) is vertical, the rim will fall

off of it onto the carrier.

 

Now, when you fire that live round and proceed to withdraw it from the chamber, the position of the lever has already allowed

the next round onto the carrier.   And because the middle portion of the carrier is designed with that built up area, the

RIM of the cartridge on the carrier will often 'kiss' the rim of the empty cartridge before the ejector can kick it out.

Therefore, the two rims often touch, although its often only a few .000's.

 

This is no big deal when shooting 1/2 second splits, but when you allow those rims to 'kiss' at speeds of .35 or faster splits, your gonna have

a traffic jam in your feeding.   Your trying to feed up a new round at the same time your rifle is trying to eject the previously

fired round.

 

The Widdermatic carrier, with its center section cut down, will put about 1/4" space between the ejected round and the

live round on the carrier.  Plus, the modified carrier is set up to position the cartridge more favorably on the carrier, and other

more subtle 'tweaks' are made to the carrier.   Now you have a carrier that will work at any speed.

The videos show this better than I can explain.

 

The carrier design in the .44 and .45 calibers doesn't have the 'high' build up like the .38/357 caliber.   And the rim 'kissing'

effect isn't as critical, atleast in those I have worked on.   BUT, modifying the carrier on a .44 / .45 1894 can also enhance

their functions.

 

Didn't mean to be so long winded, but I hope this helps those interested.

 

..........Widder

 

 

 

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15 minutes ago, Widder, SASS #59054 said:

 

Ah yes, the built in Marlin 'governor' that raises its ugly head when the rifle if functioned 'real' fast...... as in Cowboy fast.

 

Here's how that happens, especially on the .38/357 calibers.  It can happen with the .44 and .45 calibers, but not as extreme, and I'll 

explain why.

 

The factory Marlin .38/357 carrier is built up in the middle portion of the carrier.   This design allows the cartridge to rise up in a 

basic level position as the bolt pushes the round into the chamber.

Once the Live round is pushed into the chamber, the carrier falls back down and the next cartridge coming out of the portal

moves into position and sits on the front half of the carrier,  depicted by being able to see its rim at the load gate.

 

Now, before I go any further, I need to explain this detail to the non-gunsmiths on the Wire.   Your Cowboy gunsmiths know

this.   The reason you can see that round at the loading gate is because THE LEVER is holding it in position.  When functioning

the action, the round follows the lever back and when the lever (the portion inside the receiver) is vertical, the rim will fall

off of it onto the carrier.

 

Now, when you fire that live round and proceed to withdraw it from the chamber, the position of the lever has already allowed

the next round onto the carrier.   And because the middle portion of the carrier is designed with that built up area, the

RIM of the cartridge on the carrier will often 'kiss' the rim of the empty cartridge before the ejector can kick it out.

Therefore, the two rims often touch, although its often only a few .000's.

 

This is no big deal when shooting 1/2 second splits, but when you allow those rims to 'kiss' at speeds of .35 or faster splits, your gonna have

a traffic jam in your feeding.   Your trying to feed up a new round at the same time your rifle is trying to eject the previously

fired round.

 

The Widdermatic carrier, with its center section cut down, will put about 1/4" space between the ejected round and the

live round on the carrier.  Plus, the modified carrier is set up to position the cartridge more favorably on the carrier, and other

more subtle 'tweaks' are made to the carrier.   Now you have a carrier that will work at any speed.

The videos show this better than I can explain.

 

The carrier design in the .44 and .45 calibers doesn't have the 'high' build up like the .38/357 caliber.   And the rim 'kissing'

effect isn't as critical, atleast in those I have worked on.   BUT, modifying the carrier on a .44 / .45 1894 can also enhance

their functions.

 

Didn't mean to be so long winded, but I hope this helps those interested.

 

..........Widder

 

 

 

I'm not a Marlin guy, but this is awesome info!!!

 

Thanks Widderborg!!!

 

Phantom

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