Marlin lever "protrusion"

[Shuz]

Folks--the only thing I don't like about my newest Marlin 444, which is a stainless steel XLR, is that there is a protrusion of the lever metal, just ahead of the trigger, which makes for an awkward feel. It's almost like you can't get your finger up far enuf. Neither of my other 2 Marlin .444's nor my 336's in .30-30 have this issue.
Yesterday I was at a local Cabelas, and saw a 45-70 stainless steel Guide Gun that has the exact same issue. That gun was a Remlin, whereas mine is a 2006 JM Marlin. Are there any of you out there with .444 XLR's that have the same issue?
Looks like I either have to live with the problem, or carefully grind away some metal with my Dremel tool, being careful not to get too close to the latch lever pin that remains hidden when the lever is completely closed. Naturally, I'll remove the lever if I decide to do the surgery. Any suggestions out there?--Shuz

[Sneakybuffalo]

You mean like this?

118630

[Shuz]

Yup, that little ledge,so to speak, right in front of the top of the trigger. Of course I can't be sure without doing some measurement, but it appears to me that the protrusion on the picture is less than mine.

[Bullshop]

So customize it. Grind it off and buff it out. Its part of the lever right? No biggie its just them cutting corners to save $. Like so many other new guns today you have to do the refinements yourself.

[Gtek]

Couple things I would confirm before you go grinding. The hook on top of lever engages and pushes up on the locking block, the locking block engages cut in bottom of bolt for lock up. The 7 degree cut on locking block face is cut for correct headspace. These two items can be rubbed if closure found to be insufficient of lever. Is pad area on top aft side of trigger flush or close to bottom plate where contact is made to trigger block safety, and how is radius contour clearance between top of loop and tang? The front of loop can be fit properly and the actual loop behind trigger off or vice versa. I would take a black Sharpie and mark locking detent plunger in lever and cycle enough to confirm over center and good engagement (good lock on close and never popped open when firing). If it has ever popped open when firing, this is an indication of a lever, block, bolt issue and requires fitting. If all looks good, find drill press, 3/8" or 1/2" sanding drum with various grits. I have done several, take the old black Sharpie and run down side of lever when closed marking lever creating where to stop line, pop lever open and Acetone wipe receiver quickly and that comes right off. Remove lever and lay flat on piece of plywood, etc. and contour to desired line on press, and being stainless that makes life easy.

[seaboltm]

So customize it. Grind it off and buff it out. Its part of the lever right? No biggie its just them cutting corners to save $. Like so many other new guns today you have to do the refinements yourself.

So true. If I buy a new gun (I mostly buy used) the modifications begin. That lever problem can be fixed with some judicious grinding, polishing, and rebluing. No big deal. I am also no big fan of Marlin's weak ejector, and change them out in my lever guns.

[Shuz]

Gtek--Now that you mention it, it seems like the lever kinda pops open after the round goes off. How does one go about getting the correct fit? Interestingly, this gun shot a 3 shot one ragged hole group yesterday that was 1-1/2" high at 50 meters and measured .540". Same load at 100 yds, the 3 shot group was in the classic triangular shape and was 1" high and measured .830"!!
Load was 45g of Rel 7 and the MP-433-300HP sized .432 and heat treated to Bhn 22. Rem 9-1/2 primer, OAL 2.530" Velocity was 2206 fps with an SD of 9.

[Gtek]

PM sent

[W.R.Buchanan]

If you are talking about the protrusion on the lever in front of, and above the trigger,,, You can just grind that off to your hearts content as it is just a part of the trigger guard, and has no interactive function with anything except being in the way of your finger..

You can find a lot of information on smoothing out the Marlin actions at www.leverguns .com it is not hard to do at all. The problem with the lever opening after firing is simply a little too much tension on the Trigger/Trigger block spring.

The article at Leverguns.com explains all of this and it is not very hard to fix yourself. You may have to play with it a little to get the tension right.

Bullshop made a point earlier in this thread about these guns not getting the hand treatment they used to. It is in fact a cost cutting function so that they can keep the guns price point as low as possible. The simple fact is that the more human hands touch anything that is manufactured, the more it has to cost.

As a Machinist who works everyday, I know for a fact that there are many things that the factories could do to make their guns a little more "Tactile Friendly." And you can read that as simply deburring the parts before they are assembled ! There are many ways to deburr parts that don't add any time to the process. All of the parts on these guns are being made on CNC machinery and tool paths can be altered to leave faired surfaces behind instead of sharp edges. Also cutters that are being made in house can be fashioned so that they do most of the work for you.

The Levers and many other parts on these guns are finished in a tumbler. However they just don't leave the parts in the damn tumbler long enough to do a proper job!

This simple step would cost nothing to improve. An unattended machine costs nothing to operate beyond the cost of the electricity. a tumbler like they are using costs about .15 per hour to run.

The Lever on my 1895 Marlin CB (made by Marlin before Remington came along,) looked like it had been profiled on a CNC Mill and then Blanchard ground to thickness leaving razor sharp edges all around it. I had to completely deburr it before I could even shoot it!

This is nothing more that poor process engineering, and could be easily remedied by someone who knew what they were doing, or by someone new who actually gave a ship about what they were doing, and wasn't there just for a pay check.

The new guns are coming along and improvements are being made. It just pains me that they can't do the simplest things to improve the product to a much higher level.

The things I talk about are really cheap and easy to do.


Randy

[Gtek]

There are a few things that can be causing that, please troubleshoot and confirm before grinding anything.