Fixed My 1894!

[Snapping Twig]

Had an issue with my new-to-me 1894 .44 mag. I had no issues with my magnums, but when I bought some Starline .44Spl brass, apparently the rim dimensions were slightly different than my WW magnum brass.

When I threw the lever forward with a full magazine of Spl loads, the lever would jam forward, locked.

This wasn't the "Marlin jam", but it was a big issue none the less.

I posted about this at MO and one of the former Marlin employees, Tomray, told me how to fix it. When the carrier wears a bit, small differences in rim dimension can cause this problem. The cure, raise the front of the carrier a hair, @ .010 ~ .015.

So, I hollow ground a Craftsman screwdriver I had doubles of and it fit the action screws perfectly. Then I disassembled the action taking care to observe how everything fit and worked. Amazingly simple action, truth be told.

After cleaning the carrier off of all the accumulated grime from the last 33 years of its life, I put it in my vise and carefully bent it with a brass hammer. I had previously laid the clean carrier on a sheet of paper and traced it, so when I checked it against the trace, it was ever so slightly reshaped. I called it good and put the rifle back together.

I loaded up the magazine with 10 rounds and they cycled perfectly. Two more reloads and cycles confirmed it. Fixed.

The net is an amazing place, so many people helping each other.

[SemperFi1977m]

glad to hear you got it ironed out .

great rifles, I have the same model that I bought as a kid from a neighbor.

[dsparkie]

Congrats on fixing your 1894! Bought one for my daughter and she loves it! a sweet little rifle