Damaged .45-70 brass on ejection

[pazzo]

My Marlin 1895G is badly gouging my brass on ejection (or when dry-cycling). The scratch is so bad that it almost looks cracked. This is happening on both factory rounds and handloads.
Any ideas? Burr in the action somewhere?

I don't feel comfortable reloading these damaged cases.

 

[phishroy]

yup, most likely, bur somewhere is scraping the cartridge, i had a similar problem in one of my rifles as well.

cycle one round very slowly and try to catch it before it ejects completely to try to find out where it originates in the action /chamber. left, right, up down etc'
than take a good light source and have a look inside for any obvious burrs and see if you can very carefully file the bur out.

 

[vagrantviking]

Check around the loading gate too. Could be happening as you stuff them in.

 

[pazzo]

Check around the loading gate too. Could be happening as you stuff them in.

A possibility.
Although the only factory leaning me towards the ejection side of it is that the gouge is so deep it almost looks like a big crack.

 

[Crazy.kayaker]

I agree that looks like the damage from a bur. My TC had 2 burs side by side the case was fine till after it was fired and would expand to match the size of the chamber then when extracted it would make contact with the burs till then it never was an issue. Had them removed. We used a magnifying glass and a de-burring tool.

Good luck on finding the bur.

 

[pazzo]

Try cycling unfired shells through the gun to see if they get damaged

This is what I plan to do. I vaguely recall noticing the scratches when cycling unfired rounds, but didn't pay attention to it until yesterday when reloading a batch. That is when a case cracked

 

[iceman2]

Sometimes this works. Take a dry Q tip and rub it around the chamber,loading gate, and anywhere the cartridge touches through the loading cycle. A little of the cotton might/should stick to the burr.

 

[TackAttack]

I have seen this issue with Marlin 1895 lever guns, and a variety of other feeding, cylcing issues. Talk to Dennis at the Wholesale Sports gun counter in Calgary, as he has also dealt with the Marlin issues and he can advise you on possible warranty direction with your firearm or competent gunsmiths to fix it.

 

[pazzo]

Thanks, but I don't really want to drive all the way to Calgary just to talk to Dennis. I'll figure it out locally.

 

[gunlaker]

Thanks, but I don't really want to drive all the way to Calgary just to talk to Dennis. I'll figure it out locally.

Reliable handles Marlin warranty work too.

Chris.

 

[thebigslide]

3 probable places it's happening:

1) Loading gate. I think this is most probable because of the waviness of the scratch. Also, the gate is a stamped part and a lesser version of this is quite common. To check, load a cartridge, push in the loading gate and eject it through the loading port. You'll likely have two scratches and it will probably catch the bullet too.

To fix this, deburr the loading gate cover with a hand file. It's really hard metal so it will take awhile. Don't get it hot. If you take the bolt out per standard cleaning instructions, you can remove the loading gate through the bolt opening - otherwise, follow the disassembly instructions on maurader's website.

If that isn't it, you're taking the gun apart. Follow maurader's instructions being careful to pull the trigger while you remove/install the hammer to protect the sear.

2) It could be a burr on the base of the carrier. To check, remove the carrier and examine with a finger. Deburr with a file.

3) It could be a burr in the chamber. To check this, load and unload a round through the ejection port a few times and check for a burr. Nothing is coming into contact with the case wall except the chamber during this process. If you get a burr here, see a gunsmith unless it's an obvious simple fix.