Marlin 94 Action question...

[Litefoot]

I inherited (for lack of a better word) a Marlin 1894 in .44 Mag. Just a ball to shoot. It's got the sweetest report of any lever I've owned. My question is this: My 1895 Marlins have all cycled beautifully whether I cycle slow, medium or fast. The 94 requires that I do a very authoritative and snappy "shuck-shuck" or the cartridges will get hung just as the bolt comes forward to shove it in the chamber. Any thing less than a very quick cycle will invariably result in a stuck cartridge. Is this the norm? Is the problem related to the ammo or shape of the bullet(I'm using factory loads)? Is there a solution? I don't mind the quick cycle, but if I'm ever in a situation where I need my Marlin in a stressful situation, I want to eliminate all possible failures that would result from my not thinking clearly. Note: I've already tightened the screw on the loading gate. I'd appreciate any thoughts. Thanks!

[John Traveler]

hello, Litefoot!

I've owned a M1894 Marlin carbines and the M1895 in .45-70.  
I've experienced some faulty feeding (with slow cycles) like you have, and they are almost always when using semi-wadcutter cast lead bullets.  Slow-cycling subjects cartridges to more gravitational forces than a rapid cycle.  A rapid cycle actually rattles the cartridge and makes it easier to chamber a round.  It sounds weird, but time-motion studies of automatic gun mechanisms prove this.

It's possible that your action could use some smoothing and tuning work.  Many of the Marlins I've examined could use some polishing and honing of the moving parts.  Chamber mouths needed chamfering, cartridge lifters and guides needed polishing, and hammer/bolt interfaces needed stoning, etc.

The Marlin is a fine product, but like most gun production today, the manufacturer takes the minimum time to fit and finish and keep production costs down.

A basic design difference is that the .45-70 case has a more tapered chamber, thus cartridges chamber easier.

The .44 Magnum case has almost no taper, and the use of SWC bullets increases the chance of snagging on the chamber mouth.

HTH
John

[Litefoot]

Thanks, John for your input. Before I follow up on the original question, I just wanted to note something kind of wierd. Look at my post count on the original post...it's 44. My question was about a 44 Mag. And guess what year I was born? No, not 1944. It was 1959. I'll be 44 this year. Looks like late night AM radio talkshow stuff to me. :eek:

Now to my follow up. I'm not concerned about the "slickeriness" of the Marlin (i.e. bolt to hammer friction) so much as the smooth feeding of the rounds into the chamber. Do you have any specifics on how to improve that? I should say suggestions short of going to a gunsmith. Thanks!

And about that 44 thing. I was thinking about getting a nice .357 Mag lever / revolver pair...hmmm :roll: ...maybe I'll stick with the 44's.

[John Traveler]

I've seen a website that documents the steps involved in smoothing and tuning a Marlin 94 action.  I don't recall the url offhand, but, to summarize:  Carefully very fine abrasive cloth, crocus cloth, and stones, polish, but do not remove any significant metal at the following points:

1.  extractor hook engagement.  extractor should snap cleanly over rim, and engage properly.

2.  firing pin hole and bolt face. cartridges should slide smoothly over boltface.  There should be no burrs to snag case head.

3.  elevator/cartridge lifter.  to minimize cartridge friction.

4.  edges on chamber mouth.  Chamfer slightly if sharp.  remove burrs.

5.  magazine cutoff.  burrs here snag on next cartridge to enter lifter.

6.  Cartridge guides (side rails).

7.  firing pin travel.  should have no burrs or places where firing pin hesitates in it's motion.

To summarize, use dummy cartridges and cycle thru action slowly and note every point where the cartridge case/bullet/casehead touches.  The objective is to remove burrs, minimize friction, and allow cartridge to pass without being snagged or slowed down.

Clean all action parts with solvent to remove arasize, and lubricate.  Re-assemble.


HTH
John

[Old Griz]

I had an 1894 in .44 and it had to be the worst rifle I've ever owned. Like yours I had to cycle really fast to get it to work at all, but most of the time it just wouldn't feed. Had it worked on so it would cycle, but then the other problem wouldn't go away—at 25 yards it patterned like a shotgun. And of course, the further out you tried to shoot it might hit the paper, or it might not.

Check out the Marlin talk forum and you'll see that they seem to have more trouble with the .44 mag. rifles than any other. (I was kinda glad to know I wasn't the only one.) I got rid of mine and bought a .357 Cowboy. I could find no complaints on the forum about this gun, and now I know why—it's teriffic. It's as accurate as it can be with either .38 or .357s. Functions flawlessly.

I know many of you have Marlin .44s that you love more than some of your children, and I'm happy for you. You got lucky. I'm not down on Marlins—I have a Cowboy .30-30 and an old microgroove .45-70 that I wouldn't trade for anything. But if I was going to buy a .44, I'd try to find a Winchester 92. (Yeah right . . . not much luck in that!) Not that I could afford it if I found one!

[Winter Hawk]

Interesting topic.  I don't have any experience with the new Marlins.  In the mid '60s all of Marlins centerfire rifles were variations of the 336, and I bought their "Texan" model.  It was the 336 with a straight grip stock, and came in .44 magnum.  Unfortunately the stock configuration was such that it thumped me pretty good on the cheek bone.  I have had several other Marlins, .30-30 and .35 REm. and they did not boot me like that .44 did.  It was real slick cycling, though.  I don't remember it ever hanging up on me.  

I would contact Marlin and tell them about the problem.  They probably have seen this problem before and have a fix for it, even if it means sending it back to them for repair.

-Kees-