Jamming on the lifter in 1895s, 93s, and 94s

Anything to do with gun smithing.
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Brent
Sharpshooter
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Joined: Tue Sep 30, 2008 11:24 am

Jamming on the lifter in 1895s, 93s, and 94s

Post by Brent »

I have an old (1899 vintage) 1895 Marlin. It is a parts gun that has an unknown, but troubled history. It has been rebarrreled, restocked and re a bunch of other things. Only one thing remains to make this a very functional rifle. It jams.

I believe there are several forms of jamming in Marlins and I have looked at quite a few youtube videos, but none that relate to my problem (which I may have related here previously).

In my case, if there is just one cartridge in the magazine tube, the rifle will not jam. It works perfectly.

However, if there are multiple cartridges in the loading tube, I will get a jam if I work the action any faster than an unrealistically slow cycle. What happens is that the first cartridge in the tube (numbered from the rear) will slide onto the carrier but the second one will also - jamming the lifter in the down position. After much experimentation and observation, this is NOT a function of cartridge length as I thought originally. It happens because the lifter is no effectively blocking the second cartridge from climbing aboard.

I have seen somewhere, that the interaction between the lever and the bottom of the lifter can wear and cause jamming - I think this may be the issue. However, it is not clear to me what the correction is. Also, if I put tape on the lever cam where it contacts the lifter, the problem still occurs which seems unrealistic if wear in this area is the culprit.

Is there anyone here that is familiar with this problem and the correct ways to fix it? While my problem is in the 95 which I have barreled in .45-70, I believe it also happens in the 94s and 93s.

Thanks,
Brent
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