trouble-shooting problem with Marlin model 81 bolt action?

saskgunowner101

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My buddy has an old Marlin model 81 that belonged to his grandpa or great gp, that ended up sitting at his uncles for years. He has it in his possession now, and he'd like to get it running good, unfortunately it has a problem with misfires. It will fire and then it won't....with a seemingly good strike on the back of the cartridge. I even channeled my inner 10 year old, and removed the bullet and powder, and smacked the case with a hammer to make sure they weren't defects.

It's obviously been tinkered with during its life, must have had a trigger repair of some sort, and some monkeying on the bottom of the bolt. I took the bolt apart (well, removed the screw to separate it), the larger spring is fine, there must be one hiding in the firing pin channel somehow, and I believe it to be fine as it holds the pin back.

The firing pin moves freely though, no junk built up AFAIK. Which leads me to the rear of the bolt where there are two cut outs, one big one and one small one beside it. This is what I think is the problem area. I don't know if it was bubba'd, or just wore over the years.

Anyways, it seems to have worn down about a millimeter or perhaps more, and I'm thinking when the bolt is cocked, that it maybe doesn't have quite enough pressure on the spring, causing the erratic performance. This of course, is just a guess.

Anyone ever had this problem and fixed it? Am I on the right path? Silver solder the low area to build it up?? Is it possible? Any and all thoughts appreciated. It's one of those sentimental things for him, so time isn't an issue if there's a possible fix.:redface:
 
i have 3 model 81s and found that after so many years of use that the firing pin seems to be shortened that one of them did misfire. Excellent guns for long range shooting , i use mine for 200+ yard gopher eradication. Two have been D&Ted for scope mounts the other is factory barrel sights.

Some brands of bulk ammo seem to have many FTFs so i only use Winchester 333/555 ammo.
 
I did a visual inspection of the firing pin (what stuck out of the bolt face) to see if it had appeared to have been mushroomed or peened from dry fire, but it looked perfectly fine. I guess I'll have to pull the bolt apart again to check out the whole firing pin.
 
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