[epijunkie67]

I have an 1894 in .38/.357. I've put less than 200 rounds through it but I just can't put up with the way it cycles. I have a 336 and the action is smooth and steady from beginning to end. On the 1894 it jumps and grabs both opening and closing. Sometimes when I try to close the chamber it hangs up and it looks like the round it butted against the back of the chamber. I have to wiggle the lever and get the round to engage the hole before it will close.

I've tried using a dremel tool to polish the rough patches on the lever, the groves the bolt rides in, even the top of the hammer. It still cycles like I have rocks in it. If the made a 336 in .357 I'd grab one so fast it would be scary.

Is there anything else I should do at home or should I just take it to my local smith and have him do an action job on it? I'd kind of wanted to use this as my truck gun (since it packs a moderate powered round with little recoil) but if I can't get the action smoothed out I'm afraid I'll have use a 336 instead.

[epijunkie67]

Never mind. I took the gun to my smith today for an action and trigger job.

[Brian Williams]

[Dremel Alarm Voice on]
Step away from the gun
Put down "The Dremel"
[Dremel Alarm Voice off]
now go and get a sledgehammer and hit that thing many times.


I would have called Marlin...
Cheaper

[Brian Williams]

hit the Dremel that is.

[epijunkie67]

I finally got my marlin back. The gunsmith I took it to worked on it for about a week and did a lot to improve the action but even he couldn't get it to stop binding up. Eventually he sent it to marlin. They finally sent it back saying they had replace a part or two and not much else. I got to take it to the range for a function check but had to use the indoor one in knoxville.

Much improved. I ran both 38+p wally world 125 gn and .357 147 gn soft points through it in rapid fire shooting and had almost no problems. once or twice I had a round kind of hang up as it was feeding into the chamber but a firmer push on the lever allowed the round to chamber just fine. Extraction was never a problem and still isn't.

I'd forgotten how much fun this thing is to shoot. If you don't own a lever in .357 do yourself a favor and get one. You'll not regret it, I promise.

[Howdy Doody]

Howdy,
I really like the 1894 Marlins. Lot's can be done to them to help them cycle fast and prevent the infamous Marlin Jam.
I thought you might like to look around this guys site and see what some do it yourselfers have come up with.
http://marauder.homestead.com/Rifles.html

[Ringo Steele]

I have a 1894C )carbine that had the problem of not feeding smoothly into the chamber. On mine, polishing the extractor tip and bolt face did the trick. The instructions on Marauder's site are very good, also.

If you want to get 10 .357 mags in the tube instead of the factory 9, a simple trimming of the magazine spring will allow the tenth round in. Trim a little at a time until the 10th round inserts in to the mag. I had about 3 inches of spring protruding from the mag tube with the end cap off after I got it to the right length.

Once you get them smoothed up, they are very nice little rifles.

[Magnuumpwr]

I am willing to put money up saying that marlin changed the carrier assembly. Had the same problem with my 1894 44 Mag.

[P-Shooter]

epijunkie67, I know what you and others are going through. Around 1981/2 I bought one of these, I love it, it is slicker than butter now, BUT when I first took it out to shoot, it was a royal pain to get it to cycle and feed cartridges. Now it will feed them slow or fast and I think I remember even mixing 38s and 357s. I think everyone looks at problems with the bullets entering the chamber. I found that what was hanging up was the cartridge case RIMS! This might seem illogical but let me explain what I did. I removed the cartridge carrier, I think it is called, the lever that raises the cartridge up, so we are clear. With this part out of the carbine. I dragged the cartridge along the ramp that it climbs while the carrier is being raised and the bolt is coming forward. The RIM was hanging up in the valley of the carrier on the bolt end. I used a small jeweler's file and draw filed the valley smooth for the cartridge rim to ride the little RIM Ramp of the carrier. It seems like the RIMS were catching in this spot on the carrier and then getting cocked off to the side. I did this back in the 80s and that was all that I did to fix it. You can fire this rascal like Chuck Conners on the Rifleman show, if your hands can deal with the small size of the lever. I bought it on a whim, but I won't part with it now. Check me out on this and let us know if this idea works for you. I just went back through the thread and see that you do have it working better now but maybe this can still help you and others. I would bet money on the feeding problems of 1984 Marlins being with the carriers also. It was a dramatic and satisfying fix for mine.

[hoghunting]

I also had a problem with roughness in an 1894 in 357. I took the action completely apart and there were metal shaving inside the action. They must not have cleaned the action after the machining. After a thorough cleaning, the gun functioned as it should.