Do lever action rifles need to be 'worn in'? Doubts about my Marlin 1895

[Charlie38]

lever action the worst one to buy, all are rough to use

Have you ever shot a Browning 81? They are like butter.

 

[sheep100]

My Winchester 94 357 took 5000 rounds to get it where I want it. My Henry Big Boy Steel was perfect out of the box.

 

[SHELL SHUCKER]

When we get a new levergun paw strips it apart and checks for defects and then cleans the parts of grit and machine cuttings and smooths off really obvious metal burrs.
He then swabs inside the mag tube with a gun cleaning rod with very little lube on the swab to keep the tube from rusting inside yet not enough to contaminate the ammo (oil and primers are deadly enemies).

He then reassembles the gun and lubes the action very sparingly (a drop or 2 worked into the action).
He cycles the action a couple of hundred times in front of the tv while watching a football or hockey game.
He doesn't go hog wild on polishing and filing like some do.
The gun will self polish any contact wear surfaces.
If surfaces are not in contact what's the point?
He then strips the gun apart and degreases and cleans the parts and then relubes with clean oil.
On reassembly the gun is slick as eels snot.

Same method I use for all my freshly acquired guns regardless of action type. I swapped out the sights & ejector springs on my Rossi's and machined brass mag followers for 'em as well as fitted stocks & fashioned butt plates to fit & re-sizing the levers if needed.

Be it any new purchase, the beasties get the full checkout & tune up if need be.

 

[Got Juice?]

My Winchester in 44 magnum worked 100% out of the box, but the action has become VERY smooth after 250 rounds.

 

[Trimmer 905]

Sound's like it need's to be worked in a little.

Yep! It doesn't take much,either. All levers are stiff until they've been worked in. A thorough cleaning,decreasing and lube when they're new helps a lot.

Sounds like it's a POS.......

Bullshyte!

I owned a marlin lever, once. Ops description sounds similar to my experience. I bought the gun on sale and sold it a few years later for the same price. I will never buy another marlin lever, winchester all the way.

Different strokes,I guess,but,with my new Marlin 1895,it's taken 3 boxes of shells at the range to loosen it up and a couple of good cleanings. Silky smooth,now.

 

[chasseur]

I ve got. A browning 86 carbine and a miroku winchester 95 carbine and both actions are smooth as glass

 

[cheapsk8]

This sounds a little more involved than I want to get into, although it's probably a good practice for someone who wants to get a lot of use out of their rifle. I just want mine to work well enough that I won't feel bad selling it off... Thanks for the advice tho'...

When we get a new levergun paw strips it apart and checks for defects and then cleans the parts of grit and machine cuttings and smooths off really obvious metal burrs.
He then swabs inside the mag tube with a gun cleaning rod with very little lube on the swab to keep the tube from rusting inside yet not enough to contaminate the ammo (oil and primers are deadly enemies).

He then reassembles the gun and lubes the action very sparingly (a drop or 2 worked into the action).
He cycles the action a couple of hundred times in front of the tv while watching a football or hockey game.
He doesn't go hog wild on polishing and filing like some do.
The gun will self polish any contact wear surfaces.
If surfaces are not in contact what's the point?
He then strips the gun apart and degreases and cleans the parts and then relubes with clean oil.
On reassembly the gun is slick as eels snot.

This answer was probably the best you will get. I really don't want to sound rude or hoighty toighty, but stripping a lever action down, cleaning and re lubing is standard maintenance of that firearm, as well as something that should be done with every new firearm. The Marlin is one of the simplest to work on as well. Dead simple. If you can't handle cleaning a firearm, which is necessary from a safety point of view, maybe ownership isn't a thing to be considered in the first place. Just buy a proper set of gunsmithing screwdrivers so you don't mess up the screw heads, and have some faith in your own abilities. The suggestion to cycle the action repeatedly is correct. I bought my first Marlin in September, an SBL 1895. It was SO rough it hurt to cycle the action. I stripped it right away and took out all the metal machining particles. Then I put together dry and worked the action several hundred times over a few days. I stripped it down again, swabbed it out and added some light oil. I have approximately another 1000 or so action cycles and it is almost a smooth as my old Winchester trails end 94 44 mg, which after 20 years of ownership and use every year is pure butter. And definitely smoother than any Remington 700 bolt action I have ever handled, as a point of reference. I am sure it will get better with time.

Enjoy your 44 mag carbine! If you handload it can be one of the most useful and most versatile non restricted firearms you can own. I hunt and trap in remote Northern Ontario bush and it is my go to truck/atv/dogging/emergency/plinker rifle. Mine has killed everything from grouse to moose and nothing ever took more than one shot except the moose which absorbed a second round, but was dead from the first. Funny for such a "little" cartridge, how much work it can do.

 

[SuperCub]

lever action the worst one to buy, all are rough to use

Mmmmmm ........ ya.