My favorite Marlin 94 has a bulge in the barrel

[Stopsign32v]

I don't know if I never realized or if it happened recently...I just don't know. But right behind the front bands on my 45 Colt there is a nice decent bulge. It's an older JM model (not Cowboy) and is my favorite Marlin. What options do I have here? Looking down the bore I can see the dark spot where the bulge is...Man this is a gut punch. 

Edited November 18, 2025 by Stopsign32v

[Yul Lose]

I had a Uberti 73 with a bulge between the forearm band and muzzle and it never gave me any problems. It’s on its 3rd owner after me and it’s his main match rifle.

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Shoot the gun on paper.  Compare your group with the size of cowboy targets you will have to contend with.  Most barrel bulges that are in the middle of the barrel length have little affect on the accuracy of the gun, because the bullet is guided mainly by the last couple of inches of the barrel.  That is the reason why antique gun owners are SO protective of the muzzle and it's rifling. 

 

If you cannot live with the bulge, then you can:

* reline the barrel with a liner - which are harder to obtain than they used to be 20 years ago.  This, if carefully done, mainly preserves any collector value.

* install a replacement barrel.  You lose the JM stamp of course, but get probably a better shooting gun than before.  Gunsmiths familiar with the Marlin design can do this for a reasonable price.

 

Bulges close enough to the muzzle to affect accuracy can benefit from shortening the barrel (if enough is left to be legal and functional).

 

good luck, GJ

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2025 by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708

[Three Foot Johnson]

10 minutes ago, Stopsign32v said:

What options do I have here? 

1) Live with it

2) Re-barrel it

3) Replace it

 

Since it's your favorite, #3 is out, so live with it or re-barrel it.

[Stopsign32v]

It's a 1894-S (never really heard of that) and the bulge is at 18" mark.

[watab kid]

ive known a few folks that had similar and they said it made no difference in performance - cherck it out before you spend money on repairs  or replace it 

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

The gun is now junk and even all the parts on it including the stock are now compromised  ! 

So I will give you the cost of shipping for it to send it to me 😁

Rooster 

[Rye Miles #13621]

If it’s not affecting the accuracy, especially for the targets we shoot at, then leave it alone and keep shooting it or get it rebarreled if it bothers you. 

[Boggus Deal #64218]

From time to time, factory barrels pop up on eBay or at Numrich Arms.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

10 hours ago, Stopsign32v said:

I don't know if I never realized or if it happened recently...I just don't know. But right behind the front bands on my 45 Colt there is a nice decent bulge. It's an older JM model (not Cowboy) and is my favorite Marlin. What options do I have here? Looking down the bore I can see the dark spot where the bulge is...Man this is a gut punch. 

How does it shoot? 

Sounds like a squib that was shot out of the barrel. 

Can you post a picture of the location on the barrel?

[Rattlesnake Slim]

I bought a Browning '92 from a former National Champion, now long deceased. It had three distinct bulges from squibs that you could feel when pushing a cleaning patch down the barrel. I shot it for 6 or 7 years before passing it along with no problem. It was still a tack driver out to 50 yards.

[Rough 'N Ready Rob]

There is Leaver A and Leaver B, if it doesn't affect the shooting I would go with Leaver B.

  Rob

[July Smith]

Personally a bulged barrel would really bother me if it was even slightly visible from the outside of the gun.  When it comes to my personal cowboy guns I can be pretty vain.

 

If I had a 45 colt rifle with a visibly bulged barrel I'd use it as an opportunity to re-barrel it into a proper caliber like 44-40, or sell it to another cowboy with full disclosure about the bulge.

 

As others have said a bulge that far back is unlikely to effect accuracy that much especially for SASS shooting, so leaving it alone is a totally viable option.

 

    

Edited November 18, 2025 by July Smith

[Widder, SASS #59054]

9 hours ago, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

The gun is now junk and even all the parts on it including the stock are now compromised  ! 

So I will give you the cost of shipping for it to send it to me 😁

Rooster 

 

4 hours ago, Rough 'N Ready Rob said:

There is Leaver A and Leaver B, if it doesn't affect the shooting I would go with Leaver B.

  Rob

 

Rooster is always thinking about the well fair of others..... even at his own cost.  

 

Agree with RR Rob........ "leaver B".

 

 

..........Widder

 

[Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L]

mine got buldged when I loaned it to a new shooter (no good deed ever goes unpunished)

 

was years ago,  still use it as my main match gun.  shoots better than me

 

cr

 

Edited November 18, 2025 by Cheyenne Ranger, 48747L
I never could spell

[Cinch]

SHOOT IT!! Cowboy targets are close…

Edited November 19, 2025 by Cinch

[watab kid]

10 hours ago, Cinch said:

SHOOT IT!! Cowboy targets are close…

my thought as well - or use it as a backup and get one that makes you happy 

["Big Boston"]

I can understand that the visual bulge is more of an issue to some than the actual performance/ballistic issue of the bulge. But one has to be practical. 

 

I had one gunsmith tell me of a resurrection he performed on a classic hunting rifle. The bulge on it was near the muzzle, caused by snow in the muzzle. The option of shortening it to remove the ugly zone did not appeal to the owner, so the smith back bored the muzzle until the point of straight rifling. Accuracy was restored. 

 

Historically, if a cowboys rifle had a slight bulge, and it still shot OK, that is what they would do. 

 

IMO, resleeving is not an option, the bulge would still be visible, ugly, and likely cause you to miss, because it would mess with your mind. I had a 16 ga 870 that did that to me.

 

Does the barrel preclude you from shortening the barrel. You'd loose magazine capacity, you may be able to get 10 Schofield's in it.

 

I'd likely consider selling it and moving on to a new favorite. The value will be a bit less than if it did not have the bulge, but to someone that isn't annoyed by a little bump, it would be a score for them. 

 

Rebarreling is an option that would restore it to better than new. It would also give you the opportunity to change to 44-40. I prefer the 44-40, you may not. But I'd also upgrade to an octagon barrel, my preference, perhaps not yours. 

 

But, I assume that you did shoot it for a while before you noticed the bulge, which gets back to the Leaver B option. 

 

You have options, your choice.

 

Post a picture of the bulge, so we can have an idea how bad it is, and exactly where it is. 

 

BB

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

On 11/17/2025 at 10:14 PM, Stopsign32v said:

I don't know if I never realized or if it happened recently...I just don't know. But right behind the front bands on my 45 Colt there is a nice decent bulge. It's an older JM model (not Cowboy) and is my favorite Marlin. What options do I have here? Looking down the bore I can see the dark spot where the bulge is...Man this is a gut punch. 

As others have already ask - post a photo so we can see it's location and how it looks to folks other than yourself.

[Hoss]

We had a shooter with a very movable bulge about 4” back from muzzle. It shot just fine. 
a pard said it looked like a snake that had swallowed a frog! 

[Sgt. Hochbauer, SASS #64409]

I made the mistake of shooting smokeless ammo that was loaded by someone else in my 66 which is 44-40.  it got bulged in 2 places. I was told that there was a possible danger to continue shooting it with the bulges. That said I had the barrel replaced. But now only shoot ammo that I load.

 

Hochbauer 

 

["Big Boston"]

On 11/23/2025 at 6:34 AM, Sgt. Hochbauer, SASS #64409 said:

I made the mistake of shooting smokeless ammo that was loaded by someone else in my 66 which is 44-40.  it got bulged in 2 places. I was told that there was a possible danger to continue shooting it with the bulges. That said I had the barrel replaced. But now only shoot ammo that I load.

 

Hochbauer 

 

 

I'll relate an experience i had. I was testing a Winchester 1873, a survivor from back in the day, in 44-40. IIRC it had a 24" barrel, and in the middle of th barrel the rifling was missing. I did not see a bulge, I assume the damage was due to corrosion. I test fired it with Winchester Cowboy ammo, and I could hear two distinct reports. I believe what I was hearing was the gases leaking past the bullet followed by whatever pressure was still behind the bullet. lt was noticeable every shot. 

 

I did not feel that I was in immanent danger, but it didn't feel right to keep on shooting. I was shooting smokeless loads, but knowing the nature of black powder, I believe safety would be a factor. I'm thinking best practice would be to rebarrel. IOW, you did the right thing, and lesson learned. 

 

BB

 

[Garrison Joe, SASS #60708]

Sounds like the bulge is hardly noticeable externally,  as the OP only saw it looking down the bore.  

 

I bought a .22 rifle that had a similar bulge, likely because of a stuck bullet.  It shot well enough for me to continue to use it for small bore qualification shooting.  good luck, GJ

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

He has yet to post a photo for us to see the bulge.

[The Original Lumpy Gritz]

8 hours ago, Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L said:

He has yet to post a photo for us to see the bulge.

He hasn't been on the site since last Thursday. 

[Bailey Creek,5759]

I know someone who had a bulge in his barrel.

He took the cutting wheel out of a pipe cutter.

He kept tighting the cutter, going over the bulge

until it was gone. 

[Assassin]

There are many rifles out there with bulges. It's not uncommon.

[Lazy Eeyour]

https://www.gmriflebarrel.com/GMRBItem.aspx?Item=BX45C