1894C 357....picky eater or something wrong?

mr00jimbo

mr00jimbo

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I had some work done to my new-to-me JM Marlin 1894 .357 magnum, including work internally to prevent the Marlin jam and new firing pin. Great gunsmith.

When I got it back I tested it out with some snap caps. Some A-zoom .38 special, and some .357 dummy rounds. My other Marlin 94 is a Cowboy .357. Those rounds will feed and cycle through my Cowboy 100%, even slow cycling. It just snaps to attention and eats them up.

My new Marlin 1894C in .357....I got it home and tested it first with dummy rounds. First the .38s...the second round cycled through locked the action up solid, in the open position. Then I freed it up, and it happened every 2-3 rounds. With a flashlight I can see that the carrier is being blocked by a second cartridge coming out of the magazine tube prematurely and blocking the lifter, while the round on the lifter is waiting to be chambered.

Tried it with my .357 dummy rounds with the same results. Huh. Then I put a mix of .38 snap caps and .357 dummy rounds through my other Marlin, cycling slowly with one finger or rapidly, it ate them up.

Next I tested the 1894C Marlin out with some .357 live ammo (that again, ran flawlessly in my other Marlin). It got through 3 rounds and locked the gun in the open position. I threw in the towel.

I've been in touch with the gunsmith and I would like to take it back. Unfortunately I don't have time to send it back yet. Does anybody have any idea what could be causing this problem? I was thinking at first to sell this gun to buy something else but I can't do that in good faith right now because it doesn't currently work the way I want it to.

Any thoughts? Timing?
It went to a reputable lever gunsmith who is very highly regarded by myself and others. I'm a bit stumped.
 
Did it cycle fine before the smith worked on it?.

It's a fairly common issue with Marlins (lots of calibres). It's usually a timing issue or it can be from a worn/bad carrier. I've dealt with a few in 357, and have also had a few in 444.
 
I don't know what work was done so I can't comment on what it would take to fix it, or if the timing is in fact off.

It doesn't take much to cause these actions to jam during feeding, sometimes if a bit too much material gets removed during an action job then it won't feed right.
 
As I recall, the front face of the carrier also functions as a cartridge stop when the carrier is elevated into the feeding position.
A cartridge should not be able to get under the carrier when the carrier is in the fully up position, because that front face should be blocking it enough to prevent it.
If a cartridge is getting under the carrier, then the carrier must either be rising too high (perhaps due to metal removed during tuning) or the bottom of the carrier is too short (which seems unlikely if it worked before).
I can't think of any reason why the gunsmith would alter the bottom of the carrier face.

If a cartridge isn't actually getting under the carrier, then perhaps it has something to do with the carrier rocker.
This is a small spring-loaded cam which fits into a recess in the left side of the carrier.
On the rearward lever stroke, the lever extension sweeps past it and pushes it into the carrier, so as not to interfere with the lever, while a fixed cam on the lever itself elevates the carrier about half-way up.
On the forward stroke, the carrier rocker elevates the carrier to it's final up position by camming action against the lever extension.
It must be able to recess into the carrier again to allow the bolt to close and the lever to move forward.
A cut-out camming surface on the lever extension side face allows this to happen.
If the carrier rocker has been modified, then perhaps the lever can not get past it on the closing stroke.
Or, perhaps the lever extension has been slightly altered by tuning and polishing such that that cut-out camming surface no longer works properly against the carrier rocker.
 
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