lightening a leaf Hammer Spring Old Marlin 94

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Howdy all,

Trying to smooth the action of my old Marlin 1894, Anyone get me up to speed on the Process?

Thanks,

Sam :D

[fecmech]

I have no idea of the setup on a Marlin 1894 but if there is no tensioner the only thing I can think of is to either thin the spring or narrow it. I do both to Rossi trigger return springs. They are about .040" thick and I thin them to about .025" which lightens the trigger considerably.

[Molly]

Howdy all,
Trying to smooth the action of my old Marlin 1894, Anyone get me up to speed on the Process?
Thanks,
Sam :D

Hi Sam,

I'm not sure whether you're trying to lighten the spring tensions or smooth the action. But you said "smooth", so here's a real old trick that works like a charm. Take the action apart and pack it in JB compound. (That's the ultra mild abrasive for cleaning bores, not the JB Weld epoxy!). Spend a few hours watching TV while you work the action, then take it apart and clean it up. Re-lubricate with a good grease and see if it doesn't make a world of difference. I've done this on virtually all of my guns, and it's a winner.

Roughness can be due to rust pitting, sand in the action and a world of other problems. But mostly, it's an economic issue: Factorys simply can't sell guns at a reasonable price if they pay a craftsman to stone all it's working surfaces smooth. They depend on the surfaces smoothing each other out with time and use. It's called 'breaking them in". That's why you can pick up an old revolver and notice that it operates as smooth as butter, much better than new guns.

One note though: Don't try this with abrasive pastes: They are much more aggressive, and will put years of wear on the gun, while not really improving the smoothness of the surfaces very much. If you can't find JB compound (Brownell's sells it), you can use other compounds classified as 'polishes' rather than 'abrasives'. But don't use water based polishes. They will take you down to clean smooth metal all right, but the water can cause flash rusting in just a few seconds. Use a non-aqueous polish intended for chrome, silverware, etc.
Hope this helps.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Thanks all,

This is a very old Marlin, 3 digit serial # The only hitch in the action is cocking the Hammer. So I am hoping to lighten the spring enough to get the hitch out of the cycle.

Sam :D

[Molly]

Thanks all,
This is a very old Marlin, 3 digit serial # The only hitch in the action is cocking the Hammer. So I am hoping to lighten the spring enough to get the hitch out of the cycle.
Sam :D

Sam, that's an entirely different kettle of fish! Forget smoothing the action. And lightening the hammer spring is probably the LAST thing you want to try. I had a '94 Marlin 25 or 30 years ago, and parts were almost impossible to find even then. Replacing an over-weak hammer spring in one now would take more luck than I usually have.

How about describing the nature of the 'hitch'? Is there a spot where the hammer pull suddenly gets harder? Or is it hard to cock all through the arc of travel? Is there a difference in the force to cock between manual and lever cocking? Or does it just sometimes fail to cock? Each of these (and a few other things you could be experiencing) require entirely different corrections. A DETAILED description of the problem would help us help you.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Molly,

I have two new springs coming from Numrich, Flat and Wire 1 each. Lever cocking is real stiff, With hammer cocked is smooth.

Sam :D

[Molly]

Molly,

I have two new springs coming from Numrich, Flat and Wire 1 each. Lever cocking is real stiff, With hammer cocked is smooth.

Sam :D

Sam,

Man! You're a lucky so and so to find springs for it! Good for you.

If I understand you correctly, your rifle is hard to cock with the lever, but the lever works easily if the hammer is already cocked. Do I have that right?

I need to know if the hammer is easy to cock by hand.

Also, have you had it apart looking for any areas of bad wear? The Marlin 94 was made of some pretty soft metal, and as old as it is, it's just possible that the camming surfaces are worn and binding.

I didn't have a coil wire spring in mine, but if it runs on a mandrel as I suspect, the mandrel could be bent too.

[Muddy Creek Sam]

Cocks fairly easily by hand, Trying to get it ready for SASS.

Thanks,

Sam :D

[Molly]

Cocks fairly easily by hand, Trying to get it ready for SASS.
Thanks,
Sam :D

OK, then I do NOT think it's a problem with your spring. Think about it. If you can cock it easily by hand, it should cock even more easily with the extra leverage, right?

I'm thinking that the problem is something wrong with the lever or something the lever causes to move, such as the shell lifter.

Try this: Try to cock it while pressing the lever hard to the left of the action, then try to cock it while pressing the lever hard to the right. If there is no problem with the lever, there shouldn't be any big difference in cocking either way.

If there IS a noticable difference, then your lever is binding against something as the action is worked, or something the lever moves is binding.

The shell lifter could be binding, which would cause a problem as the lever tries to move it. You can test for this by removing the shell lifter, and seeing if the force to cock it with the lever changes. While you have it apart, look for any really bright spots that could indicate forceful resistance to moving the part.