375 Winchester cartridge jammed in 35 Remington magazine tube 336 Marlin

[Barry54]

A friend of mine has a 336 Marlin with what appears to be a 375 Winchester cartridge jammed in the magazine tube. The rifle is chambered in 35 Remington. The bolt is all the way back and the lever is jammed forward. I attempted to remove the screw and remove the lever and bolt. The screw is tight and won’t come out once it got past the threads.

I feel like I could get the whole works freed up if I could pull the magazine tube and hopefully get the rimmed cartridge out along with it. I’ve never removed a magazine tube before and a quick search on ewe tube wasn’t much help.

Have any of you traveled this road before?
Thanks!

[garandsrus]

You probably only need to remove the magazine cap. One small screw on the bottom of the magazine tube, near the muzzle end of the tube. There is a spring under pressure in there, so make sure you hold the cap while you remove the screw. Then the cap and spring will come out. More than likely, the cartridge will slide out also.

[Barry54]

You probably only need to remove the magazine cap. One small screw on the bottom of the magazine tube, near the muzzle end of the tube. There is a spring under pressure in there, so make sure you hold the cap while you remove the screw. Then the cap and spring will come out. More than likely, the cartridge will slide out also.

Thanks for the thoughts. I’m still thinking the rim of the 375 is bigger than any part of a 35 Remington cartridge, and the rim is where we are jammed.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

NORMALLY, a .375 Win should feed through a .35 Rem Marlin 336, but not chamber and not enter the bolt face. Removing the magazine end cap, at the muzzle, if a full length magazine should allow the magazine to empty and free the action. As garandsrus mentioned there is a long spring under pressure, so be careful. If you have a 336SC or other 336 (A, DL) that does not have a full-length magazine you may need to loosen the forearm attachment, a band with a screw or a cap with two screws before the magazine end cap and magazine stud/hanger can get out of the way. The .375 Win rim MAY have hung up on a slight gap between the magazine tube and receiver, not a problem with the rimless .35 Rem, and then 'bounced' free when the action was worked, ending up under the cartridge carrier/lifter and tying things up. The fix is DO NOT put .375 Win cartridges in the magazine. This problem can occur in the 30-30, 32 Special, and .375 win Marlin 336's. The simple fix for rimmed cartridges is a bevel on the receiver where the magazine tube fits, or better still repace the magazine tube with a better fitting one, still slightly beveling the receiver-magazine tube interface. The difference between the .35 Rem Marlin 336 and the rimmed 30-30, .375 Marlin 336, is the bolt, barrel and carrier, the magazine tube is the same. The carrier could have stopped the rimmed cartridge, then let the cartridge slide under the carrier when the action was worked. I will check when I get to the shop.

[pietro]

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I would drive out the unscrewed/stuck lever pivot pin/screw to free the lever, then remove the bolt & .375 cartridge - if the lever pivot screw's threads are destroyed in the process, a replacement screw is readily available online.

If you need to go further, drop the bottom metal out of the receiver via removing the tang screw and the screws along the lower sides of the receiver.

[2152hq]

Take the rear tang screw out and remove the butt stock.

Unscrew the Lever pivot Screw all the way. Then use a punch on the threaded end to punch it free. The lever is under tension from the stuck round likely underneath the carrier and putting pressure on the pivot screw.

Remove the lever, locking bolt and breech bolt.

Take the bottom/trigger plate screw out and pull the plate down and off.

Now you can see the carrier and if the round is stuck underneath it you can easily remove it.
If the round is stuck partially in&out of the mag tube& frame,,the Carrier/Lifter is the cartridge cut-off in the mechanism.
You should be able to free up and remove the round from the tube.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

2152hq has it right, removing the bottom plate is the next step, IF removing the magazine cap, spring and follower does not let the cartridge slide clear. The bottom plate screw and the screw on the left side of the receiver are the same thread and shape BUT the bottom plate screw is LONGER. Putting the long screw in the side of the receiver will tie the action up, carrier can't operate. There IS a very small difference between the carrier of the 35 Rem vs the '30-30 style' carriers, though 35 Rem, other rimless will feed through '30-30 style' actions and 'standard rimless like 300 Savage, 358 Win work through the 35 Rem actions.

[Barry54]

Lots of great replies! I’ll try digging further into it this weekend. I attempted removing the screw at the end of the magazine tube and it was tighter than I expected. My best snap-on three screwdriver set didn’t have one that fit properly, so I stopped.
I need to purchase some better suited tools to work on firearms. Can y’all recommend a good screwdriver set? I’ve seen some of the wheeler engineering sets on MidwayUSA or Brownells. I’m not a fan of chinesium metal. Is USA made even an option anymore? I’m pleased with my Knipex tools made in Germany also.

[Texas by God]

A local kid brought over a 94 Winchester 30-30 that had a .308 Winchester round stuck in the magazine.
He claimed that “a cousin” put it in there…….
I only had to remove the magazine tube to retrieve the cartridge.
I pointed to the caliber stamp on the barrel and told the kid “Words and numbers have meaning.”
I’ve also removed a .22 Magnum round from a Marlin model 60 .22 LR rifle.
An adult did that[emoji58].


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[Rapier]

I use the hollow ground Champion sets. However, the early Brownings will add to your broken blade collection.

[MostlyLeverGuns]

I have Brownell's and Wheeler sets. I prefer the Brownells' set that has the bits numbered in order of size and thickness. The bits in my Wheeler set(6-10 years old?) have cryptic numbering that does not relate to size. Brownell's also has a bit set SPECIFIC to the Marlin lever guns. The bits are the standard hex drive. Brownell's also has mulitple handle sizes, I prefer the magnetic 'Law Enforcement' size, but any hex bit screwdriver would work. YOU may want to use some penetrating oil, Liquid Wrench, PB Blaster, ATF (trans fluid) and let it work before trying disassembly, old oil can harden, acting like threadlocker.

[Barry54]

Yesterday my new MAGNA-TIP 44 BIT PROFESSIONAL SCREWDRIVER SET arrived from Brownells. I wound up removing the forward most “barrel band” and out came the magazine tube, spring, and follower. Then four hornady flex tip 35 Remington cartridges appeared. The fifth cartridge was still stuck. A little working it around and it POPPED free and Everything went back to normal. The fifth cartridge was in fact a 35 Remington, not a 375 Winchester. Now I’m wondering what created the malfunction?

[Rapier]

Marlin lists he 336 as a 6+1 capacity, so I would look for a case bulge or rim bur, as you have the cartridges out already, especially that last case in, then clean the gun well and check the springs, flower, and all parts associated with the lube and feeding.
If it has a plastic follower, check it for a missing piece that might have jammed up the works.