Marlin 1895 .45-70 - Hard To Load Magazine

[Prairie Cowboy]

Was checking out the functioning on my 22" barrel 1895 and discovered that loading cartridges into the 4 shot magazine had become nearly impossible. The gun is essentially new.
When I bought it though it seemed to only require reasonable finger pressure. More finger pressure than a .30-30, .357 Mag, .44 Mag, or a .45 Colt, but not horrible.

So I removed the fore end and magazine tube for inspection.
Unlike other Marlin magazine tubes this one had a deliberately formed large bulge to facilitate navigating the long fat .45-70 rounds through the loading gate. Internally, the tube looked dirty near the loading gate end, but the tube end was free of burrs or sharp edges.

I scrubbed the tube with a .45 caliber brush wrapped with 0000 steel wool and bore cleaner, being sure to clean out the inside of the bulge. I also went over the exterior with steel wool, which seemed coated with preservative. I finished by cleaning up with bore cleaner and patches and then lightly oiled it. Then I reinstalled everything.

Problem solved. One thing I noticed was that the tube follower was made of a pretty thick and wear resistant hard plastic. I doubt that these need to be replaced by aftermarket metal ones.

Whatever the coating is inside these tubes, it causes a lot of friction if it dries out.

[thegatman]

Replace the loading gate and the mag follower. There are great aftermarket companies that stand by their products. Ranger Point precision for one.

[Prairie Cowboy]

Replace the loading gate and the mag follower. There are great aftermarket companies that stand by their products. Ranger Point precision for one.

The magazine follower, as I said, works great, is very solid, and is very durable. It wasn't the problem and replacing it would accomplish nothing. But, an aluminum follower may be more appealing than plastic.

Replacing the loading gate is also unnecessary. Removing it and polishing the front edge that contacts the cartridge rims would quite likely help a bit though. On the other hand, a gate with a lighter spring would be welcome.

[Norske]

My Marlin 45-70 was the first tubular magazine rifle I owned. I fought the loading gate until my gunsmith told me about leaving the cartridge rim outside the gate opening while loading. Having owned only bolt actions, I didn't know that.

[gitzitfish]

I had same problem with mine. I did the same and stripped it down and scrubbed it of the coating. I also did change out the follower at that time to alum one. It’s been great since

[Prairie Cowboy]

I had same problem with mine. I did the same and stripped it down and scrubbed it of the coating. I also did change out the follower at that time to alum one. It’s been great since

I noticed that my 1895 22" barrel version has a higher spring tension than my 26" barrel Cowboy version. I have not done anything to the 1895 Cowboy at all yet I can load 9 rounds without as much force as loading 4 rounds into the short tube of the 22" version. I have read that Marlin deliberately used extra-long springs to ensure that cartridges won't "bounce" when firing 405 grain high velocity loads.

[Rrusse111]

"1895 22" barrel version has a higher spring tension than my 26" barrel Cowboy version"

Probably the same spring.

[W.R.Buchanan]

To get around this you simply push a new cartridge into the loading gate far enough so the rim is near the front of the gate but not off the gate, then you use the next cartridge to push that one in and your thumb never comes near the gate. You can even push the last round in this way, and I have only been doing this for 20 years. This works great and is nothing more than a simple technique to get around a common problem.

I doesn't hurt to deburr the front edges of the loading gate so it doesn't dig into you thumbnail.. As far as a lighter spring? The spring is an integral part of the loading gate itself, and the only way to lighten it is to grind some off the back side of the little strip that constitutes the "Spring Portion" of the Loading Gate. You have a better chance of ruining it than making it better.

I do the same Technique when loading my 1894 .44 Mag.

Only thing to fix here is your loading technique.

Randy

[Prairie Cowboy]

"1895 22" barrel version has a higher spring tension than my 26" barrel Cowboy version"

Probably the same spring.

That occurred to me as well. It's the kind of bonehead cost-saving measure that you might expect.

[Prairie Cowboy]

To get around this you simply push a new cartridge into the loading gate far enough so the rim is near the front of the gate but not off the gate, then you use the next cartridge to push that one in and your thumb never comes near the gate. You can even push the last round in this way, and I have only been doing this for 20 years. This works great and is nothing more than a simple technique to get around a common problem.

I doesn't hurt to deburr the front edges of the loading gate so it doesn't dig into you thumbnail.. As far as a lighter spring? The spring is an integral part of the loading gate itself, and the only way to lighten it is to grind some off the back side of the little strip that constitutes the "Spring Portion" of the Loading Gate. You have a better chance of ruining it than making it better.

I do the same Technique when loading my 1894 .44 Mag.

Only thing to fix here is your loading technique.

Randy

As far as this 1895 is concerned, you are wrong. With pistol caliber and .30-30 Marlins I'm sure that this works well for you.
But, after trying what you say, the amount of force needed to load the magazine is heavy compared to any of my other Marlins. (.30-30, .357, .45 Colt are all easier by far)
Also, my Miroku/Winchester 1873 in .44-40 is slicker than a greased pig to load.
Effortless in fact.

I have been stuffing cartridges into lever guns for about 45 years, so I think that I have that particular skill mastered in any case.

Smoothing the edge of the loading gate might well help to reduce friction though.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Only other question I have is did you get the bulge in the mag tube back in the right place when you reassembled it? It is there so you don't have to bend the cartridges as you put them in the mag.

Unless your mag spring is super heavy or the cartridges are dragging on something, There is no other reason why the gun could be hard to load. There aren't any more variables to cause the problem.

You might try bending the spring portion of the loading gate a little so the gate tab itself is below the side of the receiver. Shouldn't take much to make a difference. That would cut down on the pressure the gate imparts to the cartridge.

I have an 1895 CB and can easily get 10 rounds into it using the technique I described above.

I can get 12 rounds into my 1894 CB .44 Mag the same way.

Randy

[lightload]

I use Randy's method.

[Prairie Cowboy]

Only other question I have is did you get the bulge in the mag tube back in the right place when you reassembled it? It is there so you don't have to bend the cartridges as you put them in the mag.

Unless your mag spring is super heavy or the cartridges are dragging on something, There is no other reason why the gun could be hard to load. There aren't any more variables to cause the problem.

You might try bending the spring portion of the loading gate a little so the gate tab itself is below the side of the receiver. Shouldn't take much to make a difference. That would cut down on the pressure the gate imparts to the cartridge.

I have an 1895 CB and can easily get 10 rounds into it using the technique I described above.

I can get 12 rounds into my 1894 CB .44 Mag the same way.

Randy

As I mentioned in my post #6, loading my 1895 Cowboy is no problem.
It is the 4 shot magazine of my 22" barrel 1895 that is heavy to load.
And, yes, I assembled it correctly.
I think that the magazine spring is simply too long, since the tube is clean and smooth inside now.
Maybe the longer Cowboy spring was installed by Marlin in error.

[Jim22]

A good gunsmith can fix this. I don't know how but I sent my 1894C in .357 magnum to Lew Bonitz at Grizzly Custom for a few things. lew@grizzlycustom.com. He specializes is Marlin lever rifles. He fixed what I wanted fixed and, on his own, fixed the difficult loading. Price was right, too.

[Prairie Cowboy]

I will just shorten the spring by 4 inches. Easy fix.

[Frosty Boolit]

My Marlin 45-70 was the first tubular magazine rifle I owned. I fought the loading gate until my gunsmith told me about leaving the cartridge rim outside the gate opening while loading. Having owned only bolt actions, I didn't know that.

I saw this for the first time when Sue Aikens did it on life below zero. Here I thought I'd never learn anything from tv!