Problem with my Marlin '94

[PurdueRifleman2008]

After an afternoon of shooting my '94, I put the rifle away for a day or two but when I went to shoot it again a day later, the action locked up.

I noticed the problem when I tried to chamber a round from the magazine and the slide would only open about an inch. If I let go of the lever, it will sort of "spring back" almost into battery. It seems really bizarre to me and I have no idea how to fix this without taking it to a smith.

The last batch of rounds before the malfunction were some of my 210gr Speer HP hand loads which, incidentally, grouped horribly.

So, what says THR? Anyone else had this happen? It has been a great hunting and plinking rifle up to this point!

 

[Al Thompson]

Sounds like your shell stops are not working correctly, allowing the cartridge to protrude onto the cartridge lifter. Cycle the action with some proven rounds and see if it still occurs.

 

[PurdueRifleman2008]

It does it without any cartridges loaded at all.

 

[Al Thompson]

Uh-Oh.

Can you disassemble the rifle and see if anything is wrong? Sounds to me like something is preventing the shell lifter from rising.

 

[xtriggerman]

lots of times the loading gate screw loosens up and then the gate hanges the lifter up. if the scew is loose, make sure the gate is centered in the loading port before you tighten it down. I always put blue lock tight on that little buggar.
if thats not the problem, take out the lever screw and pull the lever off and then pull the bolt out and see if the lifter is free up and down. check for debree / broken parts. remember to put your ejector back in place before you slide the bolt back in. your 94 beats the hell out of a Win 94 in the take it apart catagory. Learn it. You will love it even more.

 

[natman]

Worth a look:

http://marauder.homestead.com/files/marlin94fix.html

 

[MichaelK]

lots of times the loading gate screw loosens up and then the gate hanges the lifter up. if the scew is loose, make sure the gate is centered in the loading port before you tighten it down.

Exactly the same thing happened with my Marlin this weekend. The loading gate screw was loose and cartridges were jamming. I didn't figure out it was the problem till I got home and took a long look at it.

The Marlin is so easy to disassemble. Just unscrew the lever screw, and the lever drops right out. Then, you just pull the bolt out the back. I do this every time I clean it so I don't have to run a rod down the muzzle.

I'd try tightening all the screws and see what happens.