Marlin 1894 Needs Gunsmith Help

[bergmen]

I bought a new Marlin 1894 (JM stamped) in .45 Colt in January of 2009. It has developed a problem of forcing the lever down when I shoot.

This originally did not happen unless I was shooting heavier hand loads but it now does it with middle of the road loads (light enough for weak revolvers).

I checked with Ruger (who now owns the Marlin brand) but they cannot repair or service any Marlin products made before they took over.

They do list recommended gunsmiths for service and repair and the one closest to me is J&G Gunsmithing in Granite Bay, California.

I have not contacted them yet but wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with them and could recommend them (or not recommend them if the case may be). I would prefer not to ship this rifle but would drive it over to them.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

Dan

[john323]

I'm located in Monterey Park Ca 91754 . Call me if I might be of assistance . If I'm close to you.
I work on "Cowboy guns" quite a lot.

[bergmen]

I'm located in Monterey Park Ca 91754 . Call me if I might be of assistance . If I'm close to you.
I work on "Cowboy guns" quite a lot.

Thanks very much for your offer but I'm in Ukiah, about 2 hours north of SF.

Granite Bay is about 3 hours away from me and much closer for me to drive.

Dan

[Southpaw45]

I have the same rifle from about the same time frame as yours, but I got about 9 thousand rounds through it. I'm pretty familiar with the mechanics of the rifle. So let me get this straight, when you fire the rifle, the lever wants to pop open when fired?

[bergmen]

I have the same rifle from about the same time frame as yours, but I got about 9 thousand rounds through it. I'm pretty familiar with the mechanics of the rifle. So let me get this straight, when you fire the rifle, the lever wants to pop open when fired?

Yes, correct. At first this only happened with stout .45 Colt loads, it would pop down just a little bit. Over time (and I started shooting reduced loads) it got worse. Now, no matter what load I shoot (I have maybe five or more loads of various strength) it jumps down pretty dramatically even with the weakest load.

I took it apart (just removed lever, bolt and ejector) to see if I could diagnose the issue but it is over my head right now. The rifle is in otherwise perfect condition.

Ruger can not help with this, they are providing no support for Marlins made previous to their acquisition. I have written the gunsmith in Granite Bay (J&G, recommended by Ruger) but so far have received no response. I need to call them tomorrow and see if they can help.

Any ideas?

Dan

[ar15barrels]

I bought a new Marlin 1894 (JM stamped) in .45 Colt in January of 2009. It has developed a problem of forcing the lever down when I shoot.

This originally did not happen unless I was shooting heavier hand loads but it now does it with middle of the road loads (light enough for weak revolvers).

I checked with Ruger (who now owns the Marlin brand) but they cannot repair or service any Marlin products made before they took over.

They do list recommended gunsmiths for service and repair and the one closest to me is J&G Gunsmithing in Granite Bay, California.

I have not contacted them yet but wanted to see if anyone here has any experience with them and could recommend them (or not recommend them if the case may be). I would prefer not to ship this rifle but would drive it over to them.

Thanks in advance if anyone can help!

Dan

30 second google search got me this:

https://www.marlinowners.com/threads/lever-opens-after-firing.97342/

I have run into guns where that hole has a burr or gunk is keeping the detent from sliding freely and simply removing the cross pin that holds the detent, cleaning out gunk and smoothing out the detent and removing the burr and then reassembling the spring, detent and cross pin cured the problem.

Look at parts 15 and 17 on this diagram:

[bergmen]

Randall, outstanding, thanks! I will check this out in the next day or so and report what I find.

This is such a great site and lots of experience and expertise here!

Dan

[bergmen]

Well, I removed the lever and inspected item 15 and the plunger works without any resistance to travel. Robust spring. Here are a couple of pics:





Not sure what to try next. The wedge at the end does not appear to be overly worn (I may have 50-75 rounds through this rifle so far).

Dan

[kendog4570]

The mating surfaces of the locking block and breech bolt could be damaged from your hot loads. Pull it apart and check those for peening, upset, etc.

[bergmen]

The mating surfaces of the locking block and breech bolt could be damaged from your hot loads. Pull it apart and check those for peening, upset, etc.

My loads were at lower pressure than .44 Magnum loads. This is why I wasn't necessarily concerned about shooting these in the '94.

What concerns me is the bolt is being pushed back to drop the lever. This should not happen no matter what. The bolt should be locked until the lever is lowered.

Dan

[ar15barrels]

Well, I removed the lever and inspected item 15 and the plunger works without any resistance to travel. Robust spring. Here are a couple of pics:





Not sure what to try next. The wedge at the end does not appear to be overly worn (I may have 50-75 rounds through this rifle so far).

Dan

Look closely at how that plunger interacts on the gun to keep the lever closed.
If the plunger is not sticking out enough to do it's job well, you might need to file the retaining slot in the plunger to let the plunger stick out further to improve it's function.

[kendog4570]

...What concerns me is the bolt is being pushed back to drop the lever. This should not happen no matter what. The bolt should be locked until the lever is lowered.

Dan

Yep. Regardless of the loads, check these surfaces for damage. The friction stud in the lever should not be what keeps the action locked. It keeps the lever in closed position after the locking surfaces are properly mated and in battery. At that point there is usually a slight bit of slack in the lever.

[bergmen]

Good points Randall and kendog4570. I am going to continue to peel the onion on this before contacting the gunsmith in Granite Bay. Thanks for your valuable insights!

One thing I may do is use a 22"-24" dowel placed against the front face of the closed bolt and tap it with a hammer to see exactly how the parts move (after close inspection while I have it apart).

I originally had bought this rifle as a short to mid-range deer hunting rifle as a companion to my .45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk. Both using the same ammo, in certain situations I could choose which firearm to use.

Since I no longer hunt, I don't need maximum ballistics anymore. This rifle will be relegated to range use and occasional plinker.

Dan

[kendog4570]

The locking block and the corresponding bolt interface should be a neutral angle at full lockup. There are also a few features at the bottom of the block where the lever contacts, and doesn't contact, at different parts of the cycle, that need inspection. Check the mortise that the block rides in for seating an battering. While both are quite strong, the square bolt action is a bit weaker than the round bolt and can get battered where the bolt and block ride. Unlikely, but it CAN happen. The finger lever plunger is quite a way down the list of things to check based on what you describe. I called it a friction stud earlier. Winchesterspeak!
If your lever is FUBAR I have a like new OEM one available.

[bergmen]

The locking block and the corresponding bolt interface should be a neutral angle at full lockup. There are also a few features at the bottom of the block where the lever contacts, and doesn't contact, at different parts of the cycle, that need inspection. Check the mortise that the block rides in for seating an battering. While both are quite strong, the square bolt action is a bit weaker than the round bolt and can get battered where the bolt and block ride. Unlikely, but it CAN happen. The finger lever plunger is quite a way down the list of things to check based on what you describe. I called it a friction stud earlier. Winchesterspeak!
If your lever is FUBAR I have a like new OEM one available.

Excellent. I think I have a plan for an experiment. I want to re-assemble the lever, close the action into battery and try the tapping on the dowel as mentioned above. If the lever pops down, I want to remove the lever and hold the "locking bolt" (item 44 in Randall's exploded view, item 46 in the exploded view that came with my rifle) up into position in the bolt and tap again on the dowel.

If the bolt does not move I think I will be suspicious of the engagement of the lever to the bolt. I'll know more after I run these experiments.

Dan