30-30 problem

[Bloodman14]

Hey, guys, I have a Marlin 336 (1973 model), that has developed a problem; the lever/bolt will not close fully, and the firing pin is barely touching the primer. We fired a box of factory stuff not too long ago, and had no issues. Any ideas?

[crazy mark]

More info would be helpful like what bullet and what diameter. Have you checked the extractor and firing pin for proper operation. It should have a 2 piece pin and the lever has to be closed all the way. Are the bullets touching the rifling.

[NickSS]

If its not closing all the way that is why you have light strikes as the two piece firing pin is aligned by the locking bolt when the gun is closed. Without more info I can not go further than this. Some things to look at are the length of you shells they may be too long with the neck jamming into the rifling. Another possibility is the brass is not properly sized. Both of these would prevent the bolt from closing all the way.

[JIMinPHX]

The only time that I saw a 336 act like that was when the brass had only been neck sized. Full length resizing cured that problem.

You can blacken up a round with a sharpie marker, then chamber it & eject it. The spots where the marker is worn off are probably the source of your trouble.

If the lever isn't all the way in the home position, then you really should not fire that gun. It's not safe. She might go boom on you.

[Bloodman14]

As a reference question; should the lever/bolt close completely on an empty chamber?
Jim, my brass is FL resized, any other ideas?
Mark, the boolits ' forward band is contacting the throat; boolits are Lee 150 FP's.
All, we went through a box of factory ammo without a hitch.
Working on 'dummy' rounds, now.

[JIMinPHX]

Yes, it should close fully on an empty chamber. If it doesn't then something is probably bent, broken or assembled wrong.

[johnlaw484]

The lever is bent.

[atr]

+1 for NickSS and JIMinPHX

levers can be fussy about neck sizing vs full length (I do all my 30-30's full length)
and they are also fussy if the case length isn't correct.....or if it bullet is seated too far out
for sure the lever has to close completely

[Bloodman14]

As it is a 'pistol-grip' type, can anyone tell me what the lever should 'look' like?
Thanks, guys.

[Bloodman14]

By the way, the lever will close, but it pops back open; it appears that the little 'nub' thingy in the lever can't engage behind the pin in the receiver that is in front of the trigger.

[johnlaw484]

Lever is bent. Someone has attempted to close the bolt on a bad round and bent the lever.

[Bloodman14]

that may have been me:oops:, I've been working up some plinking loads for Anita. Some of them are having a hard time chambering.

[Bloodman14]

Yeah, that is what it was; I am not familiar with lever guns, so I can chalk this up to inexperience. Thanks for the help, guys:drinks:

[JIMinPHX]

As it is a 'pistol-grip' type, can anyone tell me what the lever should 'look' like?
Thanks, guys.

There's a good picture of both straight & curved Marlin levers in post # 37 of this thread - http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=84017&page=2