Need help on Marlin '94

[fishnbob]

I just got around to firing my new Marlin 1894 in .357 Mag and I'm pleased with the way it shoots, more accurate than I thought it would be. I put 3 out of 5 in a
3" Bullseye at a 1-1/4" group with open sights @ 50 yds. With my eyes, that's pretty darn good. My problem is the trigger. It scales 8-3/4 lbs. Would someone please direct me to a post, thread or sticky on tuning up this rifle? I need to smooth up the action as well.

Thanks, Bob

[Beagle333]

You could get a Happy Trigger from Midway or Brownells..... or to direct you I'd suggest you look at marlinowners.com forum. They have lots of posts, threads and stickies there on tuning the 1894 trigger.

My problem with mine is that my dear ol' mom likes shooting it and won't give it back!

[Muddy Creek Sam]

I just got around to firing my new Marlin 1894 in .357 Mag and I'm pleased with the way it shoots, more accurate than I thought it would be. I put 3 out of 5 in a
3" Bullseye at a 1-1/4" group with open sights @ 50 yds. With my eyes, that's pretty darn good. My problem is the trigger. It scales 8-3/4 lbs. Would someone please direct me to a post, thread or sticky on tuning up this rifle? I need to smooth up the action as well.

Thanks, Bob

Bob,

On the Sass website, Search for Widdermatic, He has a tutorial on the web that is great for the newer M1894. Widowmaker is a Great Guy, His will feed and fire upside down.


Sam

[Muddy Creek Sam]

http://www.slickmagicguns.com/index.html

[W.R.Buchanan]

Bob: go to www.leverguns.com

On the menu on the right side of the home page you will see "Marlin Resources" There are several tutorials on smoothing out the action and doing trigger work.

None of this stuff is hard to do and is well within the reach of the average Marlin shooter that wants to learn his gun.

The one thing you will need to buy is a reduced power spring kit from Brownells @ $10-12.

Everything in these tutorials applies to both the 1894 actions and the 336/1895 actions, and the spring kits work in both as well.

These are very easy guns ot work on and doing an "action job" which consists mainly of deburring parts makes a night and day difference in the gun.

Also you can go as deep into the "racifying" of the gun as you want. I have never messed with my triggers (IE stoning sears and the like) simply because just replacing the main spring and deburring the edges of the hammer and trigger was more than enough for me. I have 5 Marlins and I have done 4 of them this way, and all have triggers with less that 3 lb letoffs and virtually no measureable creep. There just isn't that much to be gained there.

Your gun with an 8 lb trigger might just need a little TLC in the deburring of the parts, which is exactly what it sounds like.

I would try doing the "free trigger job" first to eliminate the big burrs, and see how that affects the poundage.

You simply push forward on the hammer and pull the trigger, and do it about 6-8 times. This usually knocks any burrs off the trigger sear surfaces that were left by the factory..

The other fine poiint is grinding on the cam on the bottom of the bolt that pushes the hammer back. I don't mess with this, but instead radius the front of the Hammer.

When the hammer is pushed back it must go past the sear in order to remain cocked.

How far it goes past the sear is the issue. It imparts a significant amount of drag on the lever as it is pushed over the hammer, it also does the same thing as the lever is closed except when closing the lever the bolt is pushing the hammer forward to some degree. You'll note that the front of the bolt cam is at a shallower angle than the other side which pushes the hammer back..

By radiusing the nose of the hammer where the cam slides over, you can reduce the amount of pressure required to cycle the lever, by reducing the amount the hammer is pushed below the sear.

You will see exactly what I'm talking about when you watch the bolt interact with the hammer as you cycle the lever. Do this a bunch of times untill you understand what is happening.

The reduced power mainspring also decreases the amount of effort to cycle the lever, as all the drag is caused from the Hammer pushing against the bolt.

This is a fun project and shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours for start to finish.

Like I said,,, It is a night and day difference, and you will love the way the gun cycles after you're done. YOU'll also know how to take the gun apart and put it back together, as you will end up doing that about 10 times.

There is nothing to be affraid of here. These are simple guns to work on.

Good Luck

Randy

[Salmoneye]

I agree that it sounds like you need to cycle the action 1000 times, and then do a 'Free Trigger Job'...

Go from there...

[fishnbob]

Thanks guys, This will get me where I need to be. I have pulled the Marlin 336 down and installed a trigger block stop before and it was easy to do. Three pound trigger was what I had in mind.

Gratefully, Bob

[GH1]

When I got my 1894 I cycled the lever about 200 times before I even fired it. I dry fired it with the cross bolt safety engaged maybe a hundred times, and I've put close to 1,000 rounds throught it. It's gotten considerable smoother, so you might want to just shoot it abunch before you tear it apart.
GH1

[W.R.Buchanan]

Or you can just follow the directions and be done with it in 2 hours.

Randy

[fishnbob]

Well, W.R., I am a tinkerer and enjoy working on them, so I'll have to try it. The instructions are great.

Thanks, Bob

[W.R.Buchanan]

Good to hear you're taking the plunge Bob. Believe me you can handle it, just pay attention to what they are saying and if you don't feel comfortable doing some of the mods,,, don't do them. I personally didn't do any of sear engagement mods and bolt cam mods as I didn't see them as necessary, as my guns are not full race guns. I was just going to smooth operation, and I got it!

This is a job that can be done in stages as your confidence grows, and you don't need to do everything they talk about at once or at all. You will learn more about the gun and how it works just by taking it apart and putting it back tohgether many times.

The most gain is in deburring the bolt, the lever and installing a reduced power spring kit. If you do this stuff first you probably won't even mess with the actual trigger sear engagment. Not much improvement to be had there. The further you go into the action the less actual difference the individual mods make.

It becomes Diminishing Returns!

Do make sure to chamfer the chamber mouth about .040-.050. This will make your gun feed any type of Boolit smoothly. This is not in the instructions however I have written several threads about it here.

Keep us posted on your progress so others can see that this is not some magic voodoo thing that only shamans can execute.

Randy

[Lunarphase]

This is a good read and I've done several of my Marlin triggers this way.
http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/ba...n-trigger.html