Help please with my Marlin Camp .45

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MaterDei

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Sep 23, 2003
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I bought a Camp .45 at a gun show today from a private individual. The thing looks practically NIB. The problem is this.

I load a magazine with a snap cap in it, chamber the round, disengage the safety and pull the trigger. The trigger moves freely but NO CLICK!!! :what:
:cuss:
Now what? I don't know the first thing about this weapon and I'm really not a rifle guy so I have very little experience to draw upon. In the morning I plan on disassembling it. I'll look it over for something obvious. However, I don't know what specifically I should be looking for. I suppose that if some parts fall out when I begin breaking it down that I'll know where to start. But if it looks good I'll be stuck.

Any tips?

What might cause this?
 
I'd check for gunk in the firing pin .

Not related to problem , but for future use...
CMC powermags work because of the square "U" of mag body. Wilson mags with the rounded "U" of mag body, did not.

All I know...HTH
 
Thanks sm,

After work tonight I will check out the innards. Hopefully it is just gunk somewhere but honestly I doubt it. First of all, this gun honestly shows no signs that it has ever been fired. The feed ramp and chamber look new and the bolt (at least the visable parts) has no signs of wear. Secondly, if the it was just a gunked up pin wouldn't the hammer still strike it? I get total silence when I pull the trigger. No indication of a sear releasing anything.

I was really excited about this find. I have been wanting a Camp for some time now and to find one in .45 in such good condition seemed too good to be true. DOH! Maybe it was. :(
 
I have one of these and bought it cheap because it would not chamber a round. They have a "Floating Feed Ramp" and are not easy to get running. Marlin shipped a bunch of them here that were not assembled right from the factory and several of my pals took advantage of this and bought them up. I called the Marlin people and they were highly offended by my passing this information on and shortly after, they quit making them. Gun Parts has a diagram of how they come apart. I also installed a Wolff aftermarket recoil spring in mine. I suspect someone took it apart and then screwed it up and sold it to you. Good Luck.
 
Update

I found time to disassemble it this morning. The hammer was stuck in the position that is furthest 'down'. Let me try to explain. When the bolt moves to the rear it pushes down the hammer beyond the point of sear engagement. Then as the bolt moves forward the sear engages the hammer and the bolt completes its forward movement.

For some unknown reason (maybe extended storage with the bolt locked back?) the hammer was stuck in the furthest down position where it should not have ever stopped. I just gave it a light tug and it released. Does grease harden over time? At any rate I reassembled the weapon (a chore I might add, I'm sure with experience it will get easier) and it seems fine now. I can't however simulate a very rapid rearward bolt movement without firing it so this evening I'll head back to the range and give it a go.

Thanks for your help guys.
 
Rats. I just KNEW it would be the magazine disconnect. MD, have fun with it, and let us know how it performs at the range.
 
You will love the way it throws the brass about 20 yards away. It is one of my favorite weapons now and I have a red dot scope mounted on it along with a Ramline folding stock (Pre Ban) I wish I had it when I was a Deputy as it would have been a perfect companion back then. I use CMC 10 round mags and jacketed ball ammo for mine. Let me know if you want to see a picture of mine. I can hit a shotgun shell at 50 yards on a good day. I think you have made an outstanding purchase. Mine sits at the right of my front door and it is a really nice close range rifle out to about 100 yards. If I were a gun banner type I would have banned this one as it is so black and ugly!
 
A picture would be awesome!

Mine has as beautiful wood stock and a Simmons Whittail 4x32 scope. I like it!!! :)
 
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VERY nice! I like the stock. Black and ugly is right! Wonder if they are still available?

9MM version, huh? I'm wondering how accurate my .45 will be out to 100 yards. :D As soon as I get it back out to the range I'll let you know.

Thanks for the pictures.
 
Took my new-used gun apart yesterday. Very complex assembly but if you have enough punches, you can line it all up at first. Trigger pull is a bit weird, heavy and funny feeling.
 
Badger

Have you got the 9mm or the 45? My trigger was a bit heavy but it didn't feel funny. I wonder what it would take to lighten up the trigger a bit. Looking into the trigger assembly, it doesn't look like something I would want to take apart. I'd end up going to a gunsmith with a box full of parts. :eek:
 
I tweaked mine and the trigger is OK but I didn't write home to Mom about it. Mine is in 45ACP and I have slicked it up, replaced the recoil spring with a Wolff aftermarket one, and the jeweled the bolt just for fun. I would advise not messing with it and I agree that not much can be done to improve it. It is just fine the way it is. I also jerked the front sight off and filled the holes with two allen screws so that the rust would not get in the holes. It has very nice sights on it but I wanted it rigged for night work. I also left the magazine disconnector intact, just for safety reasons. It will not fire without a magazine in place and I keep mine loaded with an empty chamber. It is very quick to load so it''s not a problem. I know very little about most rifles but have made an point to get to know this one. I never leave a live round in the chamber of a shotgun, either.
 
OK, Dave. Now you're starting to make me feel inadequate.

Tell me about jeweling the bolt. How does that work? Did you send it to somebody or is it something that can be done at home? Also, how many pounds is the spring?
 
I have a set up to do jeweling. Sometimes I like to do the barrel hood of my high end 1911 pistols and it adds that little custom touch to my Custom Serial Numbered 1911's. Some claim it holds lube better and that may be true but I just like the look of it. It is just a matter of making over lapping circles with some compound and a metal brush in a consistant pattern and is really quite boring while you are doing it. The small metal brush is adjsusted for size with little"O Rings" and lasts quite a while. When asked why I do it, I reply "Because I can!".
 
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