Marlin 1894 feeding problem

[Doug444]

OK, I've got a Marlin 1894 lever gun in .44 Mag. At the range Saturday, testing out my Cowboy Action loads, loaded a full tube (10 rounds) and printed a nice group of all 10 inside of 2" @ 15 yrds from a partial rest in about 20 seconds time. Tapped on the rear site to shift the windage a bit and then loaded only 5 rounds for confirmation of the POA shift. Went to lever in the first round and the lever was HEAVY and jammed at full open. The first round was about 1/4" out of the tube and not going anywhere, and the loading gate was slightly depressed and caught on the rim of the case. Pried the gate "closed" with a screwdriver and using the rim of the "stuck" case, pried it until it would go no more. Then tapped with a cleaning rod (VERY gently) to get the round to proceed out of the tube, then re-assemble and the remaining 4 rounds fed just fine. Examined the first round and found scratches from the prying, but no bulges, etc. that might explain the hang-up. Action worked fine with no ammo. Tried it again with only 1 round (didn't have any dummy round with me and I didn't like having live round in the tube while tapping with a cleaning rod! ), and same thing happened. Repeated same to clear the rifle and went home. At home I made up a bunch of dummy rounds and loaded it up full again (10 rounds), and they all fed just fine. Repeated it with the same results.

Is there something about these guns and starting with a half-empty magazine that causes this type of behaviour? We rarely use less than 6 rounds during a CA stage, but I'm wondering if I need to get this to a gunsmith or send it back to Marlin.

Thanks.

 

[Wildalaska]

Make sure your loading gate is not bent and tight. Check your mag follower and mag tube for burrs, the plastic followers do sometimes hang up..(which is why we make aluminum ones for these guns)

WildshamelesspromotionAlaska

 

[Jim K]

I don't know if this is the situation, but it is pretty common to have feeding problems with lever action rifles if the lever is not worked the full stroke every time without hesitation. It has to do with the way the round is released from the magazine and the position of the carrier. There can also be problems in working the lever too fast; the problem is in the same timing.

Jim

 

[Doug444]

Thanks for the input guys. Thinking back, I may have been just a tad tentative working the lever with the 5- and 1-round loadings, and I know that I wasn't with any of the 10-round loadings. The loading gate is not bent, but it's not the tightest I've seen, either. I'll have to check that.

I should note that the mag follower would not drop out the end of the mag tube when I removed the spring, so the loaded rounds were still in the mag on that first "extraction". Is there a trick to removing the follower, or is that perhaps an indication of a burr?

All help is appreciated.

Doug444 (never had a problem with THIS gun !)

 

[Wildalaska]

Hi its a burr...

WildplasitcsyoungmanplasticsAlaska

 

[sonny]

check this out

 

[Detritus]

to follow on to what sonny posted.....


In fact, check every friggen screw you can see on the receiver to make sure it's snug!
don't know how or why but occassionally the 1894CB in 45colt i had, used to suffer teh occasional weirdly spaced/timed hangup, and i could almost BET (at least after i learned not to short stroke) that after i cleared the gun that one or more of the screws had loosened just a hair and after i snugged everything back to normal, the gun would run like glass...

 

[Doug444]

Again, thanks for the input. I'll be checking the screws tonight after I get back from teaching my Hunter Education class. I knew someone on this board would have the answer.

 

[Doug444]

Guys, thanks for the advice. The loading gate screw was at least 1/4-turn loose, and several other screws were also loose. I'll look into the burr on the follower too. Again, thanks!!

 

[MeekandMild]

Loctite may help reduce the risk of recurrance. I use blue.

 

[Kamicosmos]

Mine's never hung unless I didn't work the lever quick enough. I've even loaded one round at a time with no problems.

In fact, I'm not sure if I've ever had more than 5 rounds at a time in it!

good thing it appears to be the screws. I haven't had a problem with mine backing out.