My Marlin Won't Feed Snap Caps

[Crownvicman]

Why is this? Last night I tried some 38 Snap Caps in my 1894c. I just bought 'em and wanted to dry fire them in the gun. I loaded 2 in the magazine and worked the lever. It seems like the magazine released two snap caps at once and jammed up the gun. I have not been able to recreate this malfunction with real ammo. Anyone have any idea why this happened?

 

[Detritus]

IF these were the typical clear/traslucent plastic snapcaps then this is a fairly common thing.

basicly the gun is getting out of time b/c it is "timed" to work with a loaded round.

(note: this is only one possible answer there could be many reasons this one just happens to be one that was/is seen alot with marlin pistol cal rifles and snapcaps)

best way i've seen this described is that the mechanism of the rifle is designed to work with something with more mass than those little pieces of plastic fluff have.
(the following is my sometimes screwy memory dredging this up from when i asked about the same problem with a .45colt 1894, over on the SASSwire 2-3 years ago)
when you cycle the action the snapcaps don't require as much force to push from the magazine, as a live round, allowing the Mag spring to push out the second cap (or part of it) before the shell stop can rebound to stop this from happening....

the solution... get some of those A-Zoom Snapcaps that are made from billet aluminum, with the marroon anodizing. these are closer to the actual weight of a loaded round and are less likely to cause a double feed jam. only down side to that is that those things are a bit steep compared to the little plastic nothings everyone is used to.

well hope i helped some.

Good luck

 

[Crownvicman]

I should have been more clear. They WERE Azoom snap caps. .38 special to be exact. But, your idea does have merit. They are much lighter than a loaded round. Thanks

 

[Sunray]

"Snap caps" aren't made to feed. They go in the chamber to help protect the firing pin. If you want to practice loading and feeding, make up some DP(drill purpose) rounds. No primer or powder and drill a hole in the case so you won't mix them up with live ammo. Be sure to de-burr and chamfer the drilled holes.

 

[Brian Williams]

A way to make a snap cap is to make up a dummy round and grind off the rim so it does not eject, but you can still cycle the action. Take an old case and drill out the primer hole and fill it with white silicon caulk and grind on edge of of the rim in one spot, when you want to practice shooting put your snap cap in the action and cycle it closed, the cap will stay in the chamber because the extractor has no rim to pull it out. OBTW use a fully resized case, even an old blazer case will work for this, just do not try to deprime Blazers with out drilling out the shot primers. When you are ready to take it out just reach in with a small screwdriver and pop it out or push a dowel down the barrel and pop it out..

Another thing to use is an old case with a rubber eraser cut off of the end of a pencil glued into the primer pocket.

 

[ChristopherG]

Are snap-caps required in this gun? I mean, can't you just dry fire with the cross-bolt safety on? I'm not sure what benefit the use of snap-caps would give you over this method of dry-fire???

 

[Crownvicman]

The Manual says not to dry fire with the cross bolt safety on. I assume Marlin has their reasons.

 

[BluRidgDav]

Most likely it's a question of the .38 Special snapcaps not being long enough to cycle in the Marlin's action. This is a common problem, even with real ammo in the 1894C (mine included). Check the overall length, if it's less than 1.48 inches, that's probably the reason. Try some A-Zoom .357 Magnum snapcaps, they're longer and will probably cycle fine.

One of the "characteristics" of the Marlin 1894C with it's 18.5" barrel and magazine tube is that it needs ALMOST .357 Magnum length cartridges to function smoothly, yet it will only allow 9 rounds of most .357 magnum loads to fit in the magazine. It will hold 10 x .38 Specials in the magazine, a nice thing for CAS, but if they're not long enough, jams occur.

The magic window seems to be an OAL of between 1.48 and 1.54 inches.
So load your .38's longish, or load your .357's on the short side.

I guess that's why Marlin built all of their .357 "Cowboy" rifles with 20" barrels and magazine tubes?