Marlin 336 firing pin

[Bloodman14]

Does anyone know the length of the above? My wife's rifle seems to have a hard time firing of late; getting a good dimple in the primer, but it isn't firing half of the time. The hammer is going into full battery(?) and the action is locking up quite nicely.
The problem includes factory loads from the Big Three (Win., Rem., and Fed) as well as my Lee C-309-150-F's.
Any thing else I should check?

[popper]

One or two piece pin? Slow moving hammer could be due to weak hammer spring, dirty pivot, dirty firing pin hole. Can you hear the pin strike, dummy round of course? Mine doesn't leave a very deep dimple, works every time so far.

[Bloodman14]

Two-piece pin, deburred and verified straightness. Hammer (main) spring is good, rifle is spotless and lubed with EP grease (light film). Can't hear the pin strike, but will fire the occasional empty primed case.

[jimkim]

Mine did that. I cleaned the bolt with carb cleaner. It fixed it right up.

[Leadforbrains]

My Marlin .444 did that and I went to a one piece firing pin and I have had no problems since.

[Bloodman14]

Who has the one-piece firing pins?

[got_lead?]

I just took my 336 out this last weekend. I was working up a load so I was inspecting primers carefully, and I did notice that my 336 does not make a very deep dent either. However all the rounds went off as planed.

It sound like the inside of your bolt may be a bit dirty. Remove the bolt, and see how far the fp protrudes from the bolt face when pushed from the back. You may need to clean carbon and crud from the inside of the bolt to allow the fp to operate freely.

Good luck

[popper]

Midway or Brownells for the one peice. It's the SPEED of the firing pin that pops the primer. Check that floppy thing the hammer hits too, mine wiggles a lot when I pull the bolt. Clean the FP hole as well as the FP. I took mine apart to put in a happy trigger. The hammer pivot was scored as was the trigger pivot. For $85 I'm not sure the happy trigger is an improvement. Needs to include a new sear with bushing. Marlin sear isn't square and pivot hole is rough. Caused a lot of wear in a gun with 1k through it.

[Bloodman14]

Guys, this is driving me nuts; the rifle will fire primed cases all day long, but still will not fire a loaded round! I disassembled the bolt, cleaned it with brake cleaner, reassembled, and tested with a primed case. BANG! Went out back, cycled a few LOADED rounds, and nothing.
Is there a manufacturer/part number on those one-piece firing pins? I looked at both Brownell's and Midway, and all I could find were factory replacements of the type I already have.
Thanks!

[Wally]

Marlin uses a front & rear Firing Pin...I had both break on a 1894C...which uses the same basic type. Best to remove the reatining pins that hold the firing pins and examine them to see if they are damaged--mine was. I replaced both & it shoots just fine now.

[Leadforbrains]

http://www.longhunt.com/gunparts/marlin.htm
I am not sure if this will cure your problem but it sure solved mine.



Also another thing all together is that: is your overall length for your loaded cartridges correct and letting the bolt fully close on the cartridge?

[Bloodman14]

Lead, thanks for the link! Got it 'Bookmarked'. Yes, the COAL is correct; I even set the bullet using the chamber. My bullet seating die is adjusted accordingly.

[got_lead?]

I'll bet if you pointed it at the $2000 big screen TV, it'd go off.

I read your post, that you got good dimples in the primers. It sounds like your firing mechanism is doing it's job.

Is it possible that your loaded ammo has dead primers in it? Just for grins, load a couple of fresh rounds with primers that are known to work, and see what happens.

I had a chainsaw once that wouldn't start, I replaced seals, carb parts, ignition, etc. It still wouldn't work. Then an old timer ask me how fresh the gas was. It smelled fresh, had to be good right? A week later I was desperate and changed the gas, she fired right up.

Good luck.

Dave

[Bloodman14]

got lead, it's leaving a shallow dimple in the primer of the live rounds, but is firing the primers of the "blanks". Don't have a big screen, can't afford one!

[MtGun44]

How about the rounds have the boolit seated too far out, are not fully chambering and
the disconnector is just barely stopping the firing pin from fully getting to the primer?
Look hard for marks on the boolits or any resistance to chambering fully.

Bill

[skeet1]

I also have a 336 and I think Bill is right. I have a 336 and had just what he is talking about. I had seated the bullet out too far and the locking lug was not going up quite far enough to redirect the short rear pin to line up with the firing pin. This also explains why your cases with just primers fire just fine.

Ken

[jlchucker]

I just took my 336 out this last weekend. I was working up a load so I was inspecting primers carefully, and I did notice that my 336 does not make a very deep dent either. However all the rounds went off as planed.

It sound like the inside of your bolt may be a bit dirty. Remove the bolt, and see how far the fp protrudes from the bolt face when pushed from the back. You may need to clean carbon and crud from the inside of the bolt to allow the fp to operate freely.

Good luck


Just what I was thinking. I had this same problem with a 35 Remington that I'd bought used. If you clean your levergun from the bore (and lots do, even with Marlins) make sure you stuff a couple of patches in the action so that the crud you push from the front of your barrel doesn't leak into your bolt face.

[Bloodman14]

I took the bolt apart, AGAIN, and it can't get much cleaner! Still won't fire reloads with the Lee 150-F, but will fire factory! Ran the loaded rounds through my FL sizer die with the 'guts' removed and the necks were swaged a bit (could see the rings from the loob grooves). Still won't fire. I will disassemble the rounds and start over.

[Irascible]

Good Mystery.
Is the chamber recess for the rim clean?
I would ask if you clean your primer pockets, but you say factory ammo does the same thing?
Any sign of peening over on the end of the firing pin?
Have you installed a different hammer spring?
Is the hammer, by chance, hitting the frame on the way down? I had a S&W that would do that.
Is there any reason the bolt isn't going all the way forward? Like maybe the extractor is stuck in a dirty slot. I find lots of **** in the extractor slot of my 1894 Cowboy. Have you changed or modified the lever so that it isn't pushing the bolt all the way forward?

[Bloodman14]

O.K., blasted some brake cleaner into the receiver, but nothing came out. Took an empty primed case, covered it with black Marks-a-Lot, chambered it and pulled the trigger. Bang! O.K.; pulled the case out and ran it through the FL die, and it came out unmarked! The ink was intact, save for the top 1/3 of the neck. Could it be that all the brass is too small? It came in a big bag (remember, the rifle belonged to Anita's dad, he had several 30/30s, and was not a reloader), mixed headstamps.
Any other ideas? I'm stumped.

Irascible, factory ammo fires every time (but, what fun is factory?!)

Oh, by the way, how much 'play' is normal in the lever/bolt interface? Could the lever be worn? It seems to lock up just fine, the bolt seems to be fully in battery.

[Greg B.]

If the factory ammo works every time I would start taking measurements of the factory stuff before and after firing as well as your handloads if you can get one to fire. A micrometer would probably be the best tool to use. Rim thickness and diameter might be a good place to start. Just a thought.

Greg B.

[MtGun44]

Sounds like something in the cast load is dimensionally wrong and holding the bolt back
a hair too far, and probably the disconnector effect is slightly mistimed, not fully clearing the
firing pin with the bolt mostly closed, but probably under pressure from a too long round.

Check case length.
Check shoulder length (set FL die to touch the shellplate)
Check for boolit seated too far out.
check for too much remaining flare in the neck.

It works with factory and primed cases, so the problem is caused by your reloads, but it
is likely exacerbated by something worn in the mechanism. Careful, methodical dimensional
comparison of reloaded ammo and factory ammo should eventually give you the answer.
You might need to repair the gun, but it sounds like the first issue is what is out of spec in
the reloads.

Bill

[Greg B.]

Just another quick thought. Can you borrow another set of known to be good dies and try reloading a few cartridges from the fired factory rounds? This would serve as a relatively easy quick check on the dies.

Greg B.

[popper]

Reading through your posts, it would FTF half the time on anythng, you cleaned it and now it fires factory as well as primed only. Just FTF on your reloads now. You tinted the case and it only NECK sized. Have you tried to fire the same loaded round twice? If it doesn't fire the first time extract slightly, slam the lever home and try again. I had the same symptoms on some hand loads. The shoulder wasn't set back far enough ( or the chamber was dirty), the round appeared to chamber but sometimes the trigger wouldn't pull. sometimes the trigger would but still FTF. I re-adjusted the die for real FL sizing and haven't had the problem since. Actually, as I don't use a wrench to lock the die in (hornady ND), it tends to wiggle loose after many FL sizings. I shoot jacketed and .311 CB with no problems in my 336. IMHO, you had several problems, now adjust your die.

[popper]

They still have that kids camp outside Lebanon?

[Bloodman14]

Popper, yes, I did try the same round several times; the dent in the primer never got any bigger/deeper. The rifle is as clean as I can get it without a steamclean; same for the bolt. The die (FL) seems to be a bit tight; the FL die for my .303s wasn't nearly as tight.

All, the brass was FL sized and trimmed to length, primer pockets cleaned with a brass brush in a Dremel tool; all boolits seated without shaving or buckling the case. Some rounds did fire on the second or third attempt, but was not consistent from headstamp to headstamp.

Am I looking at buying fresh brass?

Popper, yes, I believe Camp Barnabas is still operating.

[JIMinPHX]

I would check head space.

[popper]

I think it was called Mt. lebanon when I was a kid.
Do you have a 30 cal cage gauge? Check your shoulder setback, compare with a factory round. It was only off 0.005 on mine. Double jacking the lever sets the shoulder back each time. I started using one of those primer pocket cutters to make sure it seats properly, that is the other common problem.

[Canuck Bob]

Any chance there is something going on with the primers. I know you checked them but for an experiment maybe try another brand known for softer cups.

[Bloodman14]

Bob, what brand is that?

[got_lead?]

There are a couple of things I might check:

1) Hammer engagement of the firing pin, does it strike square and fully engage the fp?

2) How far does the fp tip protrude from the bolt face when the rear of the fp is flush with the back of the bolt, or where the hammer pushes it at the end of it's fall. (this is with the bolt out, and the rear half of the fp moved up into the position it would be in when the locking lug is up)

3) Is the locking lug raising far enough to properly align the back half of the fp into a firing position?

4) How stiff is the hammer spring?

5) Is the headspace Kosher?

6) Is the fp hanging up on anything, burrs, etc?

Hang in there, you'll find the gremlin.

[Bloodman14]

1) We're good there.
2) 1/8 to 3/32"; I think we're good here, too.
3) That's a good question; how to fix?
4)Good here, as well.
5)Bolt locks up tight, so I'm assuming good here, too (yeah, yeah, I know!).
6) Not that I can tell.

Man, this is gettin' personal!

[Rico1950]

How about the dies themselves?Did you get them with the rifle? Maybe they are modified.

[Bloodman14]

Dies are Lee. Bought 'em new.

[got_lead?]

Check and see if it says "45-70" on the barrel.

[got_lead?]

But seriously, are you able to post some pics of the primer dents?

[popper]

I don't understand how you can tint the entire case, FL size and only the neck shows marks. IMHO, the case is not getting FL. I had some rounds that wouldn't let the disconnector work, some that the disconnector worked but FTF(5 rnds, primers dinged). My problem was die set-up. I don't use a wench to lock the die. After sizing many cases, the die would get loose in my low end RCBS alum press. I found the problem by using my .308 case gauge. Shoulder to head length was .005 too long. Head spaced on shoulder, not rim. Evidently the 336 internals can be picky. I have a Lee 243 set with the rubber lock ring and have to really watch that too, but it's a bolt gun. I'll eventually get the hornady rings with the side mounted lock screw and hopefully a steel press.

[Bloodman14]

Give me a few, pics are comin'.

O.K., here are the pics;

[popper]

Definitely different FP dents. Center pic upper left doesn't have a ding. It may be camera distortion, have you a BENT FP? What brand primers are those. they appear more round-top than on my fired cases, primer flattens out (WLR).

[popper]

Center pic lower right are they seated too deep? Something doesn't look right. Ding looks off-center on some and deep ring around the primer.

[Bloodman14]

Popper, primers are CCI. The reason some primers look deeper is because the brass is mixed; look closely at the top right of the center pic, the brass is R-P. The Federal brass seems to have a shallower pocket, but all primers were seated fully using my Lee hand primer. Some of the pockets seem to have a greater radius at the top of the pocket. The round at the top left of center pic was not fired ( I gave up). Firing pin is not bent. More pics coming.

[Bloodman14]

More pics.

[popper]

My brass is mixed too, win, rp, fc, hornady. My primers are flat on top when fired, no matter what my load. I'm looking at CCI right now, new and spent (loaded in 30-30); spent primer is FLAT on top, filling out the PP. Are these primed only cases? I asked about the bent pin as a couple of primer dings don't appear to be in the center of the primer, others do. Nice set-up you have, mine is just bolted to the garage workbench. I think I've run out of suggestions for you.

[Bloodman14]

No, these are loaded rounds that failed to fire; rounds that DID fire are somewhat flattened as is normal. For some reason, the firing pin is not hitting hard enough or is not traveling far enough (or both).

[got_lead?]

Gunner, those primer dents look fine, almost identical to my 336. My 336 fp tip is kind of petite too, not a bludgeon, but I've never had a misfire.

Don't worry about your sizing die depth settings, the .30-30 heaspaces on the rim, so it really doesn't matter how much you size down the shoulder, you can not re-size this case into excessive headspace.

However, sometime down the road, neck sizing is recommended to improve case life significantly. When you neck size, the case fills out to the chamber dimensions, and will begin to headspace on the shoulder, which actually is an advantage because headspace is now much tighter, and your brass isn't worked as much.

Anyway, those primer dents look OK to me, I wouldn't stand in front of your rifle. I am suspicious of primers which are dented like that and didn't go off. Especially when you mentioned that factory ammo works just fine.

Just for grins, pick up a box of fresh primers at the store, different brand than you used in the last rounds. Load up a few and try them, I would bet a cup of coffee they will work fine. As always, be very careful to not get any oils or case lube on the primers or primer pockets, as very little oil will ruin a primer.

Federal primers are the most sensitive, followed by winchester and remington. CCI have fairly thick cups, and are less sensitive.

I personally think your rifle is fine, the problem is the primers.

I'll see about shooting a few pics of my primers tomorrow when I have some sunlight for comparison, but they don't look significantly different than yours.

[Ozarklongshot]

I can't believe yall have missed the obvious. Look closely at the pictures. See it? The fore end barrel band has been moved forward and is no longer in it's proper location causing an imbalance that is causing the problem.

Seriously though, Maybe the loaded round bullet is seated out to far causing the bolt to not come into complete battery? I have no idea, Just interested in the solution

[got_lead?]

Here's a picture of my primer dents from my 336. I don't think they look too different from yours.

http://i1187.photobucket.com/albums/z398/1homebrewed/PICT0033cs.jpg

[Irascible]

Are you cleaning your primer pockets?
Are you seating them to the bottom of the pocket?
Are you using Large rifle primers?
Is your sizing die all the way down to touch the shell holder?
CCI are the hardest primers that is why RCBS recommends CCI ONLY for their strip priming system. Also, most Cowboy action shooters don't use them because they have softened every spring in the guns.
Try some Federal Large Rifle Primers.
You keep saying that the hammer spring is OK. How do you know? The factory one tapers down at each end.

[Greg B.]

Years ago I loaned my 30-30 Winchester to a bud who went hunting with a friend. He came back and said my handloads (I gave him a box) wouldn't work in friends rifle. Since they worked fine in my gun I didn't give the matter a second thought. Can you try some of your reloads in a friends gun? That will tell you something about the ammunition and is cheap and easy to do.

I keep talking about ammunition and dies because they are the simplest and easiest (cheapest) to test. Also I don't have the knowledge that the other members do about the workings of these rifles. After I figured the ammo and dies were not the problem then I would work on the rifle itself following up on the other info that people have posted. Good luck.

Greg B.

[got_lead?]

Actually comparing the pictures of the dents in yours and mine, your primer dents do look a bit shallow.

How long have you had the gun, and did you buy it used? Have you looked at the hammer spring? Factory springs do taper. I lightened my 1894's, but then they shoot pistol cartridges, I almost lightened my 336, but am gald I didn't. My 336 hammer is really pretty stiff, way stiffer than any pistol I own, and it really doesn't overly dent the primers. I can dry fire on a fired case several hits before the primers bottom out, so as stiff as my hammer is, it's not too much.

If you want to try a heavier hammer hit, Wolff offers both factory and extra power springs for the marlin rifles. This might be worth a try.

[JIMinPHX]

These were fired in a 336 that has never had a misfire.

Edit:
Some of these were 2,300fps hunting loads. Most were 1,200fps plinkers. That is why some primers look flatter than others. These primers were all WLR. COAL was 2.52" with a Lee 150-gr FP sized .310".

[JIMinPHX]

Give me a few, pics are comin'.

O.K., here are the pics;

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=35183&d=1314240720



The fact that a few of your indentations are deeper & others are not, leads me to suspect that the problem is not a weak spring or a bad firing pin. It leads me to suspect that something is rubbing sometimes on the firing pin or hammer or that the shell is not always all the way home in the chamber when the pin hits the primer. That could be caused by the loading lever not being fully closed all the time. That kind of problem can also be caused by primers that are not fully seated, but if factory ammo has the same problem, that is not likely the case here. After checking headspace, I would look at the little safety gizmo that gets tripped when the lever goes all the way home. It's the little doohicky that is right behind the trigger. I'm sorry that I don't have a better technical description of what it is or how to inspect/adjust it. I haven't messed with the insides of a 336 very much.

[JIMinPHX]

rifle is spotless and lubed with EP grease (light film).

Maybe try oil instead of grease so that there is less drag on the hammer & firing pin?????

[JIMinPHX]

If a round doesn't go off, & you then pull the hammer back & drop it on the same round a second time, do you then get a good indentation on the primer? If so, that could be a symptom of the first firing pin strike either seating the primer deeper into the primer pocket or the first strike seating the cartridge deeper into the chamber. The second example might be caused by a combination of excessive headspace & a boolit that is seated out far enough to engage the rifling.

[JIMinPHX]

.30-30 headspace info can be found here- http://www.lasc.us/brennan_6-7_headspace.htm

I believe that the go gauge on a .30-30 rim is .063" & the no-go is .070".

A quick check method can be found here - http://www.castbullet.com/misc/hspace.htm

[rmb721]

Gunnerd

You might not have quite enough spring tension. Even with a new spring.

Try putting a small washer or two in front of the main hammer spring. With the stock off, cock the hammer to make sure that the spring is not totally collapsed. This will increase the spring tension, but will also increase trigger pull.

I had to do this and it took care of the problem.

[no34570]

Correct me if I'm wrong,but isn't that reloading die touching any of the case that you a resizing in post #42?
It has touched the shoulder or are you only neck resizing?
If you are full length resizing,it seems not to be resizing the case???

[JIMinPHX]

Gunnerd, Have you made any progress?

[Bloodman14]

Guys, I think I have some worn parts; JiminPhx, that "doohickey" you mentioned may be worn, I will be checking it out. My belief that it is worn came from a 'beagleing' experiment; I removed the sliding block that lifts the rear firing pin, cleaned it good, and added a strip of metal tape to the notch that engages the rear FP. Reassembled the rifle, grabbed a handful of previously 'fired' rounds (that had been tried but FTF), and went out back. Better than half of them fired! So, I will look at the innards closely, and start replacing parts as I go along. I will keep you all posted as to progress, and Thank You so much for the help, gang.

[JIMinPHX]

that "doohickey" you mentioned may be worn,

You might want to think about going to a genuine gunsmith at this point. That little doohickey is some sort of safety device that prevents the gun from firing if it is in an unsafe condition. If you manage to prevent that device from disabling the firing of the gun without the unsafe condition being corrected, you may well find yourself with a much worse problem than a failure to fire.

If you do proceed on your own, please be careful & be sure that you understand the entire mechanism, not just the part that is causing the current problem.

[no34570]

Good luck mate,I hope you get it sorted out ;)

Since I cleaned the junk out of the firing pin hole/bolt,it has worked flawlessly.
Note to self,must not use thick oils or grease for the bolt ;)

[JIMinPHX]

Any updates on this? I'd love to find out what happened, in case I run into it myself, later on down the road.

[Bloodman14]

O.K., I switched out the primers from CCI 200 LRPs to Winchester LPPs and that did the trick for the most part; still some failure to fires. Will look into replacing some of the internals,; firing pin (one piece) and the block that engages the firing pin. Will let you know soonest; I just started a new job with a company called "Ridewell' that makes tractor-trailer suspension systems (think Air-Ride Equipped).

[Bloodman14]

O.K., guys, a quick update; changing primers did not cure anything, still have FTF's. Does anyone know the factory length of the forward firing pin? I see some peening indication on the one I have.

[fishnbob]

I took the bolt apart, AGAIN, and it can't get much cleaner! Still won't fire reloads with the Lee 150-F, but will fire factory! Ran the loaded rounds through my FL sizer die with the 'guts' removed and the necks were swaged a bit (could see the rings from the loob grooves). Still won't fire. I will disassemble the rounds and start over.

If it will fire factories but not reloads, look to see if you are pushing the shoulder back a hair. It keeps the case from locking tight and lets it move just enough to take the force off the firing pin, keeping it from popping the primer. Take a factory that fired and resize it NECK ONLY and reload it and see if it fires. If it does, buy you a neck collet sizer or adjust your dies to only neck size.:wink:

[Denver]

I had the same problem with two 336s that I have. Took the firing pins out and had a buddy weld them to make one piece firing pins. I chucked them in my lathe to dress up the weld area and reinstalled them. Goes bang every time now. :guntootsmiley:

[Freischütz]

When I got a New Model 1895 I had problems with failures to fire. The gunsmith found that the firing pin was short. Replaced the firing pin and the problem vanished.

[MtGun44]

Try seating the bullets .020 or .040 deeper. It is your ammo, and not empty cases, not
factory. Only things left are boolet/bullet seating depth or shoulder location, which
should be for certain shorter than a factory round.

Bill

[Bloodman14]

Guys, I got the problem fixed; it was indeed the firing pin. Got a one-piece from longhuntershootingsupply, and that took care of that!

[Muskyhunter1]

Really great thread guys. The only concern I have if you replace a two piece with a solid firng pin isn't they a chance now the gun could fire before it is not fully locked up?

[bigted]

YES ... it will fire without the lever being completely locked up in battery with the 1 piece firing pins! I really think you put a band aid on a compound fracture. your problem WAS NOT the firing pin I would bet.

I just read this whole thread and I gotta say that the only thing I find that has been ignored is the loading of the rounds. I firmly believe that the fault is surely in the dies and not anywhere close to the rifle. I would bet further that if a set of GOOD RCBS dies were tried ... maybe from a pardners setup ... that the FULL LENGTH SIZED rounds would surely fire consistently with the old factory firing pin.

your setup is prone to flex and also the LEE dies may be at fault. the problem IS with your reloads for some reason. either having too little size reduction, too big in diameter boolit. the photo of your "blackened" case after supposed to have been full resized shows me that your loading setup is NOT doing its job.

lever guns are very prone to the need for full resized cases for proper function thru the action. also the lever disconnect is there to prohibit a round from firing when not completely in battery. the need for complete battery completes the full lockup of the action ... therefore making the trigger pull a safe action. if the action is not in complete battery and has the ability to fire ... there is a chance that that bolt will fly back into your eye and break your fingers in the lever loop. lots of pressure in that chamber upon firing a round and all happens in milliseconds.

back to your photo of the sized case ... that should be scraped down to around 3/8ths of the case head for a full sized case. in other words you may be shooting an unsafe rifle with the installation of that 1 piece firing pin. there HAS to be a reason why the factory rounds fired and your reloads don't.

please be safe and recheck a few things ... this is not an attempt to be a Smart A$$ ... rather from the outside looking in ... an attempt to find the real culprit and problem with your rifle to retain a safe rifle for whomever shoots it.

not a slam on the solid firing pins either ... rather a look at the problem from a deduction process. discover WHY the factory rounds function and the reloads don't.

[ba_50]

I wouldn't worry about the safety of a one-piece firing pin because if there was an issue, liability would have put them out of business by now.

Swany tried to make his fire on purpose and couldn't get it to fire.

Thw only thing that bothers me is that the company wouldn't guarantee it would fix the problem. That being said it makes me wonder if the one-piece is dragging causing a slower lock time, or uneven wear in the bolt.

[xtrudes]

I signed up on this forum just to thank you for making me think! I had the light hit no fire problem with my Marlin 336 after making up some reloads. After taking the bolt apart and almost buying a new firing pin, I came across this forum, and saw the post from leadforbrains on page 1. His post got me thinking, and I re-measured my reloads. Sure enough, they were all 10 thousandths of an inch over max. I re-seated the bullets lower, re-crimped them, and my issue was gone. I guess it is human nature sometimes to refuse to think the solution to a problem is the simplest thing. Thanks again for jolting my brain.

[TXGunNut]

Welcome to the forum, xtrudes! Glad you got it figured out.

[Wind]

Well boys and girls -- This thread just goes to show there can be problems with many facets, or possible solutions. Whilst I'm not a fan of one piece firing pins in Marlin lever guns, the two piece pins may still pose occasional issues. For those of you thinking about replacing an original for whatever reason, you might find the parts house sending you a skeletonized replacement. They function the same, but they look like this...

143526

There can be differences in length between unadulterated new firing pins...

143527

143528

The difference in length between the new and old pin corrected a failure to fire situation I was having with specific brass/primer combination. This can be seen in the primer dimple...

143529

The old pin as since been installed in an 1893 Marlin and preforms flawlessly. Hope this helps. Best regards. Wind

[JDBrowning]

I had a failure to fire issue caused by the cross bold safety. The cross bold was not milled out correctly and was being hit by the hammer which slowed the hammer impact causing some miss fires. Worth checking out.

[JDBrowning]

Cross Bolt Safety. Getting old and can spell.