Howdy
Wow, I haven't seen that description by Rusty Marlin in years. Around these parts, he lived in New Hampshire, he was considered the Marlin expert, hence his alias. Last time I saw him he was working as a line engineer at Ruger, but that was a long time ago.
Pretty good GooseGestapo, but I've got you beat. I bought this old Marlin Model 1894 back around 1975. Near as I can figure, it was made in 1895. Not a drop of blue left on it, but even with its old pitted bore it still shoots straight and true. I took it to my first Cowboy Match about 20 years ago and shot it until I found an old Winchester 1892.
Chambered for a round I had never heard of at the time. Marlin marked it 44W, but that was their way of calling out 44-40 or 44WCF.
Just for the fun of it, here is a photo of what the bolt looks like when it is shoving a round into the chamber. Yup, no blue and plenty of pits, but after a little bit of TLC by an expert she still works fine.
You don't see too many Marlins in the old Westerns, you mostly see Winchesters. But here is a photo of Robert Ryan in The Naked Spur, starring James Stewart, holding onto a Marlin. You can tell by the ejection port on the side. That was a selling point for the early Marlins, the Models 1881 and 1888 were top eject like a Winchester. But in 1889 they changed over to side eject and have been ever since.
Yes, that is Janet Leigh. she made this movie in 1953, a few years before she made Psycho in 1960.
The nice thing about a Marlin is you can take out the lever screw and the bolt, lever, and locking bolt come out so you can clean the barrel from the breech end. You can't do that with a Winchester, they have to be cleaned from the muzzle if you are going to use a straight rod. To tell you the truth though, I never take my old Marlin apart anymore. Can't remember the last time I had it completely apart. I just clean it from the breech with a bore snake.
Did I mention I only shoot it with Black Powder? It is plenty strong enough for mild Smokeless loads, but I prefer to shoot it with Black Powder.
I agree with GooseGestapo. Don’t over think your maintenance on the ‘94.
I don't go overboard cleaning my old Marlin. After a match I clean the bore and everything I can access inside the mechanism with Murphy's Mix, then follow up with Ballistol.
That's all I do, and have been doing so for what, 44 years?
Regarding the magazine spring, yup, be careful if you remove the magazine tube plug. It WILL go flying, so remove it with the muzzle in a box, to capture it. Oil up the spring a bit and forget about it for the next 40 years or so.