New To Me 45/70 Jams

[azrednek]

I picked up a Marlin 45/70 in a local on-line horse trade. I traded away an Iver Johnson M-1 Carbine and got a pre-safety Marlin. Finally got some range time with it today and can not get a round to feed smoothly into the chamber. The only ammo I have is Hornady's Lever Revolution. It appears to me that the cartridge goes it at such an angle it binds up and prevents the bolt from going forward. If I drop the lever slightly pulling the bolt back slightly, coax the cartridge in a bit with my finger, bolt goes forward, locks up and it shoots just fine. Ejection is perfect.

Do any of you lever guys have any idea what the problem might be? Could it possibly be the Hornady factory loaded cartridge is a bit to long? I've had similar problems in the past with my Rossis if the boolit is not seated deep enough especially 357.

This is my first experience with the 45/70. I would like to figure out the problem and possible fix before I invest the time and $$'s into rolling my own. I would like to cast and load RNF or SWC. I have to dig my 458 molds out of moth balls. I think I have an apx 350gr RNF and a 400 something round nose I cast and loaded years ago in reduced 458 Winny loads. Both my 458 molds are gas checked Lee.

Any advice or suggestions are welcome and will certainly be appreciated.

[stubshaft]

Sounds like you are cycling the lever too slowly, try a more energetic pace.

[greywuuf]

A buddy of mine had a marlin in 45-70 and his gun would not chamber the rounds I assembled on new Winchester Western marked brass ( I think that is what they were i will have to check) they worked fine in my Winchester 86... close examination revealed that the rim was to large and they were hanging up on the extractor......never dealt with the Hornady ammo so I have no idea how it compares.

[Jack Stanley]

If you suspect it's a length issue , try a box of different ammo . That may tell you right away and you are going to want a supply of brass for it anyway .

Jack

[John Taylor]

There are a lot of lever guns that have the same problem with strait wall ammo. The ammo hangs up on the chamber mouth and won't slide in smooth and because of this it won't rise on the bolt face. Some require the chamber to be polished and the lower edge rounded slightly. This problem really shows up on the 1886 in 50 EX but very seldom on a new model Marlin. Sometimes working the bolt faster helps or pointing the muzzle down. Not a situation you want on a hunting rifle.

[azrednek]

Thanks guys for the responses. Now that I think back I did operate the lever slowly, keeping my eye on the innards. I have some empty brass now so I'm going to try putting together some dummy rounds and see if cranking the lever vigorously helps.

EDIT: Guess it is years of use, some of it rather hard with my early 70's Marlin Glenfield 30A. The action has smoothed itself out over the years. Limp-wristing the lever for the lack of a better phrase on the seasoned 30/30 doesn't adversely effect the operation of the action. I don't know how much use the new to me but used 45/70 has seen. It doesn't appear to have seen much previous shooting.

Please feel free to chime in here with your thoughts.

[reivertom]

I have a 1895 and it requires a firm smooth stroke to feed 100%. It is possilbe that the box of ammo is slightly out of spec or the rifle has a worn part. Heck it might just need a good cleaning and lube job. Try going to the "Marlin Owners Forum" and look at their stickies and gun specific tech info. There is alot of good stuff about Marlins and how to make them better, take them apart, etc. If you can't find what you need, join the forum and pose a question. The guys are very helpful on there and more than a few have probably had your problem once or twice.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/

[Gtek]

Bottom of barrel at chamber entry- maybe. You said you rolled and watched, have not owned one yet that cycled well at 90 degree angle left. Some work like butter straight up vertical flat muzzle, some like a little muzzle down. The world can change with ammo type swap. It ain't a bolt gun, some can be a might bit tempermental. The gummy tips seem to be hit and miss between guns. There are plenty of articles on polishing and clearance changes to chase problems. I have Malinitis and the boomers are my favorite, hang in there and I doubt you will be sorry. Gtek

[al42]

i had exact same problem.gunsmith took a burr off the extractor and smoothed up the the rest of the action. works great now.the burr was the problem.best $45 i ve spent in along time.Al

[motoseeya]

some extractors have burrs on them use some 1500 water paper to clean up I think that will fix it did mine

[Four Fingers of Death]

Always seemed to me that the slower the cycle, the more the trouble. Only other prob I ever had with 45/70 Marlin was ammo too long.

[TXGunNut]

Measure those Hornady cases before loading with them, they're shorter than standard to accomodate those LeverWhatever bullets. If they're not factory loads someone may have neglected to shorten the cases. If you're going to shoot factory loads the ones in green and yellow are pretty awesome, if a bit tame. They're BP equivalent, +/-.
+1 on cycling the action "smartly". A good tip on many tighter Winchesters as well.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Does it appear that the bullet is digging into the chamber mouth or is the case not going under the extractor smoothly?

The Marlin action is essentially a controlled round feed action. Part of that cycle requires that the cartridge rim gets picked up by the bolt and shoved under the extractor. If the cases are hanging there then some deburring of the extractor will probably fix it. It is made of spring steel and is essentially a spring. A sharp edge on the bottom leading edge of that piece would make it gouge into the case rim instead of sliding past. This is why a fast lever stroke would work when a slow movement doesn't.

On the 1894's if you use a WFN style boolit they will get the edge of the Meplat stuck onto the chamber mouth. Same with SWC type boolits. By simply chamfering the chamber mouth you can fix this problem. However I doubt that this is YOUR problem, it sounds like the extractor to me.

Randy

[GARCIA]

Best bet as stated earlier is to go over to the Marlin board and go down to the gunsmithing section.

Your problem is nothing unique.

Should be able to find a stickie that addresses the problem and the fix.

Sounds as if the extractor hook is not allowing it to come up all the way and may be in need of a little tweaking.

Tom

[Mooseman]

I had a Brand New Marlin .450 come in for repair that would not chamber a round, No matter how fast you worked the lever , faster just dented bullets and cases trying , because the way the bolt face was made combined with the angle of entry, the bullets jammed going in to the chamber and you could only turn the gun upside down and open the bolt a bit so it would drop and then chamber...not good when facing grizzly bears...worked ok if you were hanging upside down.
The bolt face had a machined recess and the rim area of the round never reached the extractor and jammed because the rear of the cartridge could not slide up and into the extractor, it jammed on the lower recess lip and any bullet we tried jammed the nose into the top rear chamber edge. It left the factory that way.
I told the customer to send it back to the factory since it was brand new for repair under warranty. He wasnt happy about that...right before hunting season.