Old Stumpy
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- Joined
- Mar 3, 2019
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Their story was that Remington had to basically reverse engineer the 1894 after the initial problems to finally get it right
I think that this is correct. There are differences inside in mine and I think that they actually function better as a result.
An older JM Marlin Cowboy in .45 Colt that I owned from a few years before the Remington takeover had the rim of the cartridge actually drag along the inside of the receiver (which had been polished smooth) when extracting and ejecting. (Kind of like a Lee Enfield, if you are familiar with them) This resulted in weak ejection, though it did work.
Marlin rifles are supposed to hold the rim of the empty case enclosed in the breechface like the 1894 .44 and .357 versions and like the 336 versions in .30-30, .35 Remington, and .375 Winchester. Then the side-sprung ejector is able to pop the empty case out even if you operate the action slowly.
My new Marlin Cowboy in .45 Colt actually DOES hold the rim enclosed like it is supposed to.
Perhaps the bolt is very slightly wider to allow a lip on the ejector side, where the JM version was unable to do this when they originally adapted it from .44 magnum.
The cartridge lifter also seems more carefully shaped and fitted inside the receiver, although it looks like that is the result of careful automated machining.
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