Has anyone done this?

[Blackwater]

I have an 1894 Marlin .44 and the magazine feeding port cover seems to have a particularly strong spring. With neuropathy in my hands, this isn't a good thing for me. I know there are all manner of cures, but wondered if I placed a dummy ctg. in it about half way in, so it sticks out and holds the spring depressed, and left it there for days or weeks, would this sort'a reset the spring and make chambering easier for me? With all the lever gun fans here, I figured there is at least a chance someone here has done that. I know spring metalurgy and production is better now than it's ever been before, so don't know if this'd work or not. Anyone tried it?

[xdmalder]

I haven't done that but springs don't work that way. They actually have to be worked in order for them to weaken.

[Vann]

I've seen people bend the spring a bit, it'll work but it's easy to over bend the spring.

[pietro]

.

FWIW, a loading gate (which is tempered as a spring) that has lost it's temper/strength is a classic cause of failure to feed cartridges (the gate impedes the lifter).

I've bought more than a few Marlin 336's that "jam" for a pittance (around $100), that the installation of a $12 part (a new loading gate) took care of.

I would respectfully suggest you load the rifle via inserting each new cartridge only half-way into the gate (fully-seating the last to be loaded), which will hold the gate aside while loading more cartridges.



.

[dragonrider]

"I would respectfully suggest you load the rifle via inserting each new cartridge only half-way into the gate (fully-seating the last to be loaded), which will hold the gate aside while loading more cartridges."

That's how I do it, works just fine.

[rancher1913]

could a good gun smith put a longer gate in, like say a 30-30 gate in a 357mag, to make loading easier. all my 357's are a pain to load and I always thought a longer ramp verses a shorter one would work better.

[xdmalder]

Not saying they couldn't but I had Ranger Point Precision ease the tension on my loading gate on my Marlin 1894. Works slick right now. No loading issues at all

[bikerbeans]

The spring tension on the gate can be adjusted by slightly bending the narrow end. It would be trial and error and I wouldn't attempt it unless I had a spare gate. As mentioned, the gate must close completely or it will interfere with the carrier travel.

BB

[Blackwater]

Well, that's what I thought, but there's so much experience here, I just wondered if this had ever been tried. Thanks for the replys. I think I may order a new spring, and see if I can't thin the one I've got a little. Always good to have the extra part BEFORE I work on something. Don't ask how I learned that! :oops:

[markinalpine]

A similar loading problem, but with a Win 94, came up a week or so ago: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?280686-Winchester-94-loading-question&p=3282301&viewfull=1#post3282301
Mark [smilie=s:

[MarkAD]

post this on marlinowners.com its a really good question

[MBTcustom]

This is a very common problem that is easily fixed if you know how to do it. Takes a little touch, but it's easy enough once you've done it a few times. This is something that needs to be done if any fast loading is going to be performed like SASS shooting. I slick up Marlins all the time and do action/trigger jobs on them for local folks.
What you do is remove the loading gate from the rifle and use a bench grinder to slim down the spring portion to about half it's original width, being careful not to over heat it and lose your spring temper, and being careful not to remove too much. This is best done by cut and check, because if you remove too much, then the loading gate will take a set and then there is no alternative but to buy a new one and start over again.
On my guns, I also use needle files to strip away any sharp edges on the action around the loading gate. This makes it much much easier to load cartridges in the rifle. The same process is used for the Rossi 92s.

[JHeath]

Goodsteel -- first, thanks. And when you say "remove width", I am pretty sure you mean "width". NOT thickness. Just to be super extra clear. Sometimes one guy says length/width/thickness but the other guy is thinking width/height/depth.

[MBTcustom]

That is correct. It's the same difference either way, but the fact is, you are removing a percentage of the spring weight by effecting it's physical size. The problem is, it is very difficult to grind on the flat side as accurately as you can on the width of that spring strip.
You want to shape it with gently blended corners, like an hourglass shape but with a pretty wide area in the middle that is of constant width. I usually grind mine to about 1/8" wide.

[Salmoneye]

This has indeed been covered on the MarlinOwners site...

It is done by relieving thickness...Not 'width'...

Material is removed from the back side of the gate...

Many threads on that site dealing with this:

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/336/75327-very-stiff-loading-gate-2.html