Marlin 336 pre-safety 30-30w question

[Camba]

Hi all!
I bought a few months ago a nice 30-30w marlin lever gun pre-safety and it turned out to be an excellent shooter.
One thing that called my attention but I am not loosing a sleep over it is that the lever springs off a little if you bump the stock with your hand (like knocking the wood with your hand). I need to make sure I am grabbing the lever against the stock to make sure it is ok to fire when ready to fire.
Is this a common problem? How can you take care of that?
I will seat and read responses from your experiences. I hope to find a good (and not costly) solution.
Thanks.
Camba

[crazy mark]

Kinda normal on my several. It won't fire as the thinghy that the lever pushes on makes the firing pin rear go up so it can fire. It's actually a safety device. My PC crashed or I would have the right terms in front of me. SWMBO barely lets me use her PC and heaven forbid I put gun stuff on it as it might mix with her cooking stuff.

[runfiverun]

well I understood what he said.
but i'll translate a little.
you gotta hold the handle closed to shoot the rifle.

[Wayne Smith]

Yup, both of mine are that way too. Relaxed they won't fire, like it was said, a safety device.

[Mauser48]

The one i had did that too. Its a safety feature. Kind of annoying to me though.

[Camba]

Nice to know! Thank you guys! I thought that was a problem. And sure, it does not fire if it springs open. I just have to grip the lever against the stock anyway so seems that I will be OK.
Thank you.
Camba

[MostlyLeverGuns]

Winchester 94 - yes, Marlins have a spring loaded plunger in the lever that latches over a pin that locks the lever. The spring may have failed or the plunger is frozen or missing. I just looked at Marlin Models 36, 1894, 1895, 336's from 1949, 1951,1963 and a336 with a push button safety. All have a plunger in the lever and on all the lever plunger keeps the lever shut. The lever plunger does keep the lever shut against the trigger block on the newer ones with a trigger block. Again the plunger in the lever could be missing or not working. The cowboy shooters often replace or shorten the spring to make the lever work more easily, but the lever shouldn't need to be held closed. On the 'more recent' Winchester 94's the lever does need to be held closed to depress a trigger block to fire.

[Camba]

Do you have pictures or schematics of the Marlin 336 parts? If mine is missing where can I find parts?

[Remiel]

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/MarlinGlenfield-33379/Rifles-37333/336Series-38971/336W-34016.htm

this might help

[MostlyLeverGuns]

The parts on the schematic (see Remiel's link) are #17 Finger Lever Plunger, #18 Finger Lever Plunger Pin, and #19 Finger Lever Plunger Spring and are in the #20 Finger Lever. On a Marlin, the Finger Lever is easily removed by removing the finger lever screw. There are many postings on removing the lever and bolt for cleaning from the breech. Again, these parts are in the Finger Lever and should lock the lever so it does not flop, if it is a Marlin 336. Part #71 the Trigger Guard Plate Latch Pin is where it locks.

[Gtek]

There are two safety features designed into this platform. The pad area on top of forward loop area contacts the lever that protrudes through lower floor. This is the stop for sear/trigger operation, must be depressed to allow sear movement and disengagement from hammer. The other is the locking block raised into battery lifting aft firing pin into alignment. I have had hands on more than a few of these and this can be caused by several things. They have it appears over the years left the factory anywhere from good to borderline as to what I would consider good. First thing to check, does it act the same empty vs. a round in chamber? If so the ugly stuff is usually not an issue. Next thing is remove lever from rifle and check detent and plunger, needs a 1/16" punch to remove and inspect spring. I have dressed lower face of detent in past to achieve desired results if all else found good. If both these appear good, install lever back in and close. Check radius of top of lever to lower tang, a stuck round or someone playing Chuck Conner may have been a little hard on unit and bent rear of lever downward. Rifle will go fully into battery lifting block but not fully contact sear lever and over lever detent. Lever can be tweaked back cold very carefully removed and in vise.

[Camba]

"First thing to check, does it act the same empty vs. a round in chamber? If so the ugly stuff is usually not an issue." I believe so but I will double check.

[lightload]

Your rifle is normal. If it did otherwise, something would be dragging on something else.

[xdmalder]

Gtek is right on!

[Camba]

Gtek is right!
when I have a round in the chamber, I was not able to reproduce dropping the lever when knocked the stock with my hand.
Otherwise, the lever sometimes kicks out when loading the gun through the loading gate.
I can live with that.
Camba

[MBTcustom]

Two things happen that make the lever fall open.
1. The sharp edge of the retaining plunger becomes rounded.
2. The spring under the retaining plunger becomes weakened or gummed up with snarf.

The fix (if it's bugging you) is to hold your left thumb over the plunger to keep it from making a gettaway across the shop floor, while you use your left fingers to hold a 1/16" punch so the small retaining pin can be driven out. Support the lever on a roll of tape to do this, and drive the pin only far enough to let the plunger slide out of it's hole. Take it out, and use a file to dress the angles on the nose back to a sharp point. Clean the spring well, and if it has lost it's tension or gotten weak, replace it (it's a cheap part, so I recomend having a replacement in hand as a matter of course, and just pitch the old one).
Put the plunger back in the lever and hold it in place with your thumb while you carefully tap the pin back flush with the lever. Assemble the rifle, and your lever should stay in place.

Now, that said, I prefer the lever to easily pop off it's seat with a flick of the fingers. I usually install Wolff springs, and lightly stone the sharp edge of the plunger to a .010 radius. The levers on my rifles require only 4-5 pounds of force to open and close them. They are slick as a greased bar of soap. One of the reasons for doing this, has been mentioned before: safety. Some of my guns have triggers well below 3 pounds and when hunting, I usually just cock the hammer and flick the lever open a little. The rifle is safe. If I need to take a shot, all I have to do is squeeze the lever shut and I'm good to go. Easiest safety in the world!

[Camba]

Great idea Goodsteel!
I bet that is what the previous owner did to this gun.
This gun shoot real good with cast boolits and that is what I intend to use it for. It also shoots very good with jacketed bullets. The trigger is in the 3 lb neighborhood and I look at the plunger and seems that had been shaved of to a sharper slop angle.
I will leave it just like that for now and I may follow your instructions at a later day.
Thank you.
Camba