Marlin 1894c jamming
I took my brand new Marlin 1894c levergun (.357 Mag/.38 Spl) to the range last night for the first time. It shoots great, dead accurate, but I did have some feeding problems.
I bought a bag of .38 Spl +P jacketed round nose. I also had a few rounds of Winchester .357 Mag JHP. At first I did a few single feed rounds, just to make sure everything was working. Then I loaded the magazine with 2 or 3 rounds at a time. The action was stiff, but it felt like it was working itself out.
So then I loaded 8 rounds, shot one round, cycled the bolt and it stuck all the way open. It wouldn't budge. From what I could tell there wasn't anything jammed, but I noticed the next cartridge in the tube looked like it was pushing on the loading mechanism. I am brand new to this gun, so I don't know all of the terminology for the parts in the feeding mechanism.
Anyway, I undid the lever screw, removed the lever and bolt, and it was still jammed. So I pushed on the little plate that covers the magazine loading port and all of a sudden all 6 remaining cartridges came flying out of the tube and fell through the open bolt to the floor.
I figured it was a fluke, maybe a bulged a cartridge or something, so I put the gun back together reloaded continued shooting 2 or 3 at a time. Then I got bold and loaded about 6 rounds and again it jammed. I disassembled and fixed again and continued with my shooting. It jammed on me one more time and by the end of the evening I was doing single shot target practice. The rangemaster said that leverguns are "just that way". He said I just need to rack the bolt a little faster so that it won't jam on the cartridge.
I stumbled across this guy's article this morning:
http://my.net-link.net/~napfn/marjams.htm
Has anyone else had this problem? Does it sound like my magazine timing is off and I have a "Letting in 2" jamming problem, like this guy says? Or is my rangemaster right?
One more thing, before I shot it last night, if I opened the bolt all the way when the gun was empty then it would stick open. I had to push on the little loading plate to get the bolt to "release" and close. I figured that was just the way it worked, kinda like a handgun slide when it locks open on empty. But after shooting it last night I can now open and close the bolt without it catching at all. Is this right?
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." -Gandhi
I bought a bag of .38 Spl +P jacketed round nose. I also had a few rounds of Winchester .357 Mag JHP. At first I did a few single feed rounds, just to make sure everything was working. Then I loaded the magazine with 2 or 3 rounds at a time. The action was stiff, but it felt like it was working itself out.
So then I loaded 8 rounds, shot one round, cycled the bolt and it stuck all the way open. It wouldn't budge. From what I could tell there wasn't anything jammed, but I noticed the next cartridge in the tube looked like it was pushing on the loading mechanism. I am brand new to this gun, so I don't know all of the terminology for the parts in the feeding mechanism.
Anyway, I undid the lever screw, removed the lever and bolt, and it was still jammed. So I pushed on the little plate that covers the magazine loading port and all of a sudden all 6 remaining cartridges came flying out of the tube and fell through the open bolt to the floor.
I figured it was a fluke, maybe a bulged a cartridge or something, so I put the gun back together reloaded continued shooting 2 or 3 at a time. Then I got bold and loaded about 6 rounds and again it jammed. I disassembled and fixed again and continued with my shooting. It jammed on me one more time and by the end of the evening I was doing single shot target practice. The rangemaster said that leverguns are "just that way". He said I just need to rack the bolt a little faster so that it won't jam on the cartridge.
I stumbled across this guy's article this morning:
http://my.net-link.net/~napfn/marjams.htm
Has anyone else had this problem? Does it sound like my magazine timing is off and I have a "Letting in 2" jamming problem, like this guy says? Or is my rangemaster right?
One more thing, before I shot it last night, if I opened the bolt all the way when the gun was empty then it would stick open. I had to push on the little loading plate to get the bolt to "release" and close. I figured that was just the way it worked, kinda like a handgun slide when it locks open on empty. But after shooting it last night I can now open and close the bolt without it catching at all. Is this right?
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." -Gandhi
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Hello WoundedWolf...
Take it back and get a real gun... a WINCHESTER[^][:D]
OK, now that I have that out of my system (and I am just yanking your chain in fun), if you are intent on staying with this Marlin, send it back to the factory with essentially the same information you provided here... a brand new gun should NOT have that kind of problem, and if it is a known problem, all the more reason to switch to a WINCHESTER[^][:D]
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
Aw, geez. I should have expected this. Thanks, Bert. Ya, ya, ya, next time I will make it a Winchester.
Of course the Win probably would have choked on the .38 Spl, since they are afraid to admit that their .357 Mag Ranger Compact "might" feed .38 Spl too (maybe).*
Okay, okay, I really don't want to make this a Marlin vs. Winchester thread.
Thanks
*U.S Repeating Arms Co. (dba Winchester**)holds no resposibility to this claim, even though .38 Spl should kinda probably work in this gun (though we are not liable if it doesn't, so don't blow your @ss off if you try it, sucka!)
** U.S. Repeating Arms is not in any way affiliated with the Winchester Mystery House and are not liable for any activity which may or may not occur there. In fact, we don't really like the name Winchester, but it makes us a lot of money!
Okay, enough jabbing at Winchester.[8D]
-WoundedWolf
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." -Gandhi0 -
quote:Originally posted by WoundedWolf
Aw, geez. I should have expected this. Thanks, Bert. Ya, ya, ya, next time I will make it a Winchester.
Of course the Win probably would have choked on the .38 Spl, since they are afraid to admit that their .357 Mag Ranger Compact "might" feed .38 Spl too (maybe).*
Okay, okay, I really don't want to make this a Marlin vs. Winchester thread.
Thanks
*U.S Repeating Arms Co. (dba Winchester**)holds no resposibility to this claim, even though .38 Spl should kinda probably work in this gun (though we are not liable if it doesn't, so don't blow your @ss off if you try it, sucka!)
** U.S. Repeating Arms is not in any way affiliated with the Winchester Mystery House and are not liable for any activity which may or may not occur there. In fact, we don't really like the name Winchester, but it makes us a lot of money!
Okay, enough jabbing at Winchester.[8D]
-WoundedWolf
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." -Gandhi
[:D][}:)][:D]... glad to see that you took the ribbing well[^]
Bert H.
Real Men use a SINGLE-SHOT!0 -
i'm glad this isn't a biker forum, thing could get violent. most feeding problems with the marlins are caused by the loading spring (loading gate, spring cover, what ever) either a loose screw (1/4 turn loose will cause jambs) or the rib on the back side worn (or the wrong spring cover (.44 in a .357 ect.). 0 -
Hello, WW. Send it back! Marlin will replace it if it doesn't function. I recently bought a 1895cb 45-70 that wouldn't feed. Sent it back, and had a new one in a couple of weeks. This one seems to work fine. My first experience with Marlin...had me worried at first, but cust svc is good. Still hard to imagine how these can be shipped out w/out a factory test...[V] 0 -
The one I had for years would feed anything except full wadcutters. I never had a minute's trouble out of that gun with anything else in .38 or .357. As the others have said, if it ain't working return it under the warranty.
Fight Crime- Shoot Back!
Trashballs Prefer Defenseless Victims!!!!0 -
Most of us cowboy shooters will tell ya that nearly all leverguns need a few hundred cycles,while watching True Grit,to wear off the rough edges. 
Most Marlin jams I see at the shoots are becuase of a loose screw.They are machined to tight tolerances and a teeny bit of wiggle seems to make 'em wig out.
YOu do know to shoot round nose FLAT POINT bullets in a laever gun to prevent mag tube detonation? It does happen!
Most cas shooters also cut a coil or three off of the stcok mag tube spring to make loading easier.....and possibly feeding too,but mostly for ease of loading.
Throckmortons' the alias,cas is the game.0 -
Thanks, Throckmorton. I think I will recheck all the screws to make sure they are tight, since that sounds like a common problem. I will then take it to the range a couple of more times to see if it works out the kinks. If not, I always have that warranty card, although I'm not looking forward to the hassle of shipping it to Marlin and waiting around for a new one. Besides, this one has a really nice stock with a smooth finish (no checkering). I would hate to give it up.
And yes, I have heard about using the flat ammo, in fact it says so in the manual. I was just using regular jacketed round nose .38 Spl., although I admit it was a bit unnerving pushing on the primer of each round as I loaded the tube magazine. I did have a mental image of the whole thing going off and being left with a bunch of wood and metal in my face. I think I would be more comfortable shooting the flat-nosed cowboy rounds because even those round bullets come to a pretty sharp tip.
Anyone know of a good website for cheap .38 Spl cowboy loads? Maybe Cheaperthandirt?
I will keep the coil idea in mind to. It was a bear trying to load those 8 rounds in that tube. I figured it was just because it was new.
Thanks0 -
Will it also let in number two when using 357 Mag?
The gun should go back. Tell them you want the same s/n back or at least the same wood that you like.0 -
No, v35, I only had a handful of .357 Mag, so I didn't fill the tube with it, I just did single shot.
Since we are talking ammo. Have you guys had luck with using .38 Spl SWC in this gun? How about .38 Spl JHP?
This place has some great deals on Miwall reloads:
http://www.outdoormarksman.com/
I bought some Miwall 9mm at a gun show a few months ago and it has been great. Nice quality reloads.
They also sell what looks like lead flat nosed .38 Spl Cowboy loads, although they don't identify them as cowboy loads, they are just called LRN. 500 rounds for $49, plus shipping. Shipping to my house here in CA calculates to $11. Not bad for 12 cents a round.
I like the idea of using .38 Spl SWC or JHP because I can use those for self-defense in my revolver too.
"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest." -Gandhi0 -
Feeding semi wadcutters would be possible,but most lever guns balk at them,especially if levering fairly fast.Try a few before buying a thousand of 'em.
If a bulet does not say fp in the nomenclature,I'd find one that did.TC,or truncated cone is another variation that will work just fine..kind of tapered instead of round-looking.
Be sure to crank it a few hundred times,or more,before your next session.
If you trim the mag spring or do ANY mods to the gun,mum's the word as far as Marlin is concerned.
A lot! of guys with new leverguns,heck guns in general,have to 'break 'em in' before they are smoothe and functional.But then,th'ats just more fun time,right?
Throckmortons' the alias,cas is the game.0
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