Vintage Marlin Lever-action 410

[Marlin410Lever]

Hello, this is my first post, so please be understanding if these come across as "newbie" questions. I'm hoping someone here can help.

I received a Marlin 410 lever-action shotgun that originally belonged to my grandfather. Before my father passed, he explained that my grandfather received the shotgun as part of a promotion way back in the early 1930s. I now want to use the shotgun for upland hunting with my son.

The shotgun seems to be is good shape. However, the bluing has turned into sort of a chocolate brown over the years, the shotgun needs a good cleaning, and there seems to be an issue when using modern plastic 2.5" 410 shells.

When I try to load modern plastic shells, they get stuck when the brass base is about the enter the chamber; the plastic hull goes in fine. I remember that my grandfather and father used paper shells with the shotgun, so I'm wondering if the shotgun isn't suitable for use with modern shells.

Has anyone heard of this happening with this model shotgun? Could the issue simply be a matter of too much gunk built up inside the chamber? Would it be safe to have a gunsmith widen the chamber slightly to accommodate modern shells? If the chamber was widened, would the shotgun lose value? Would having it re-blued affect the value?

Thanks for your time and any advice you might be able to offer.

[marlinman93]

Rebluing this neat old .410 shotgun will ruin any collector value, and lose the history of it's being in your family for 3 generations unaltered. I wouldn't advise it and would never restore an old heirloom myself.
I've owned a couple of these fine lever action shotguns and not had the issues your having. I suggest you get some other brands of shotgun shells to test and see if it's an issue with the brand you tried. If you can locate any .410 shells with a lower brass base they might have a better chance of chambering.
If you find a store that has more than one brand then take them home and try one out of each box and see if it chambers. If it doesn't, then simply return them and tell the store they didn't fit your chamber.

[Marlin410Lever]

Rebluing this neat old .410 shotgun will ruin any collector value, and lose the history of it's being in your family for 3 generations unaltered. I wouldn't advise it and would never restore an old heirloom myself.
I've owned a couple of these fine lever action shotguns and not had the issues your having. I suggest you get some other brands of shotgun shells to test and see if it's an issue with the brand you tried. If you can locate any .410 shells with a lower brass base they might have a better chance of chambering.
If you find a store that has more than one brand then take them home and try one out of each box and see if it chambers. If it doesn't, then simply return them and tell the store they didn't fit your chamber.

Thanks!