Marlin 1894 "Cowboy" .... Need a bit of help??

I have a Marlin 1894, which has a plastic follower in the mag tube. It's OK but I want to replace it with an aluminum follower, which I have already obtained. My problem is the end plug is held on by a transverse screw that attaches to a hanger dovetailed to the barrel, and removing the screw does not seem to release the plug.
It does loosen the mag tube from the barrel, but it remains attached to the rifle under the breech, and I don't know enough about the Marlin design to really know how to get that endplug off. I don't think one ought to have to remove the whole tube completely from the rifle to do this.

Can anyone help me with this?

I did this on my Rossi R92 and it was a cinch. Marlin .... uh, the designer clearly had a lot of time on his hands .....

Thanks .....

Ok, thanks. I didn't realize the end plate to the forend had to be removed. That wasn't required on the Rossi.


I have a suspicion whoever designed the Marlin must have some German heritage .... .....

Interesting read. Thanks.

MachIVshooter, I was really only joking about that .....Germans do have a certain reputation for "overengineering" things .... like WW2 King Tiger Panzers, for instance.
I'm primarily a Winchester fan, but I can admire my 1894 Marlin for being handy, pointable and it has a slick action .... and, yes, it is a comparatively simple mechanism which ought to be an advantage in reliability and efficiency.

I'd originally planned on a 1894 with barrel bands, but when I went to actually buy the rifle the one I'd looked at was gone, and they had only the one I bought, octagonal barrel, endcaps, in .357 magnum. I like it better than the barrel band version actually.

Pat Riot said:

Go to this website:
https://rangerpointstore.com/product-support/

Then scroll down and click on “Marlin Self Cleaning Magazine Follower”

Follow along on the video.

Click to expand...

Aaaannnd ..... BINGO! New follower is IN!!!
Got the time to tinker with the rifle earlier today. Easy peasy when you know what the design of the rifle is. I really don't like forcing things apart when I'm ignorant of the gun.
Mine is very smooth as well, and no problem ever with either .357 mag or .38 Special.
Thanks for the link to the video Pat Riot.