Major jam with new Marlin, really need advice

[seniordep2010]

So after my hunt yesterday I thought I would shoot my new gun a little bit, its a Marlin 30as 30-30 and its 20 years old and never fired til' I got it on Thursday.
Well after about 12 rounds it completely seized up after ejecting a live round that didnt go bang the next one came half way out the tube and stopped jamming the entire gun. The hammer was stuck down, the action would NOT move at all so I had to take it back to the dealer and he said he got the round out and shot 4 rounds out of it.
He said if Im worried about it jamming again, especailly on a hunt that I can give it back and he will buy me a new Marlin 336.
See I shot my first deer with it yesterday so is really has some sentimental value but If the internals and messed up from forcing the action open, and if its a defected rifle I would rather get a new one and not have problems. WHAT SHOULD I DO???? :banghead:

 

[TexasRifleman]

its a Marlin 30as 30-30 and its 20 years old and never fired til' I got it on Thursday.

Has it ever been cleaned and lubed properly?

Lots of crud can built up in 20 years.

 

[seniordep2010]

Im not sure, but when I get it back later today Im going to take it apart and clean it and lube it. And I really hope it never happens again becuase I dont want to have to get rid of it.

 

[CajunBass]

I've seen this happen before with mine. I'll bet you worked the action slowly. You really got to WORK it. Give that lever a good snap.

And a good cleaning won't hurt.

 

[seniordep2010]

Yea someone said I probably didnt put enough "umphh" behind the action, I mean I was bench shooting off the front porch so I probably did just open it with the least amount effort.

 

[kingpin008]

What Cajun said. I've only shot a levergun once before, but I've read many times that jams can occur when being too gentle on the re-load.

Hope you have better luck when you get it back and get it cleaned up!

 

[seniordep2010]

Yea Im sure thats what it is, that and the lack of cleaning. Ill get it all worked out, can t wait to get her back now.

 

[seniordep2010]

I just looked at the Marlin website, their warranties are only good for the original owner, and only for the first 5 years. So if it happens again I'm not going to spend a fortune to fix it, Ill have the dealer trade me a new one as bad as Ill miss it.