I fixed my "Marlin" jam

[crabo]

If you remember, I put a bunch of parts in my 357 model 94 CB and slicked up the action. I did the carrier modification, put a radius on the lever, and it started feeding 2 at once.

I put a new carrier in it tonight. and as long as you work the lever stoutly, it feeds great. The only problem is that with an unmodified carrier, the Lee 125 grain cowboy boolit is the only one I can get to feed with 357 cases. So I am back to square one with trying to load a longer bullet in untrimmed magnum cases.

I think I have several options to use a heavier boolit which include:

1. Load the heavier boolits in 38 special cases. I don't want to do this.

2. Crimp in front of the forward driving band on SWCs.

3. Trim cases, which I don't want to do.

4. Crimp the boolit in a different place where it was not intended to be crimped.(not exactly sure how to do that on a Dillion Square Deal)

5. Deep seat the boolit a little and taper crimp, but the the boolit style I want to use has a wide front driving band and I would like to utilize that instead of tapering it down..... (the LBT style FN)

I confused, any suggestions?

Crabo

[imashooter2]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=7750

[Jon K]

Crabo,

Is there some special reason you want to shoot the SWC?

You can modify the carrier and ramp to feed, or use a RNFP design.

Take a look at this, price is reasonable and shoots good for me.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpag...eitemid=172810

Jon

[crabo]

Imashooter2, that article started my journey and I did all of that. I don't understand why it started letting 2 shells loose at one time. I took .070 off the carrier. I read somewhere about heating the carrier and bending it up 5 degrees. I coulds always try that since I have an extra one that doesn't work. I followed the instructions well. It doesn't make sense to me why it quit working by cutting the carrier back, unless I did it too much.

Does anyone ramp the bottom of the barrrel a little like the 1911 guys do?


Jon K, what kind of groups are you getting at 100 yards? I want to shoot the cowboy pistol cartridge silhouettes with this gun and load. That boolit looks like it should work well. Did you modify your carrier to shoot that boolit?

Thanks,

Crabo

[runfiverun]

lot's of the guy's here use the rnfp or wfn in 158-180 grn
design they will knock the 200m rams right over.
the flat meplat really helps with" energy to the target."

[imashooter2]

Too much radius on the snail cam induces the "Marlin Jam" by changing the timing and it doesn't take very much radius to be too much. Cutting the cartridge stop back has no effect on the timing.

[crabo]

Snail cam? Is that the lever? I guess I need to tig up the lever and recut it with less of a radius.

[imashooter2]

That's the lever. A lot of guys have screwed up their brand new rifles "fixing" them. You wouldn't be the first. Breaking the sharp corner is all you want to do, a couple of thousandths. Use a fine stone for the job, not a file. Makes it harder to take too much material.

[crabo]

Well, I tigged up the lever and recut it. It will shick out the 357 cases with the 125 grain Lee fn cowboy bullet. It still won't feed the 158 swc or the LBT 160 fn consistently.

It seems like the carrier needs to come up a little higher, so I am thinking I might build it up a little more and try it again.

Anyone know any good resources on adjusting the timing on tthe Marlin 1894?

THanks,

Crabo

[imashooter2]

There was a pretty good post over on Marlin Owners, but damned if I can find it now...

It was in the 1894 section. I don't know if VTDW moved it in his reorg or not.

[WyrTwister]

If you remember, I put a bunch of parts in my 357 model 94 CB and slicked up the action. I did the carrier modification, put a radius on the lever, and it started feeding 2 at once.

I put a new carrier in it tonight. and as long as you work the lever stoutly, it feeds great. The only problem is that with an unmodified carrier, the Lee 125 grain cowboy boolit is the only one I can get to feed with 357 cases. So I am back to square one with trying to load a longer bullet in untrimmed magnum cases.

I think I have several options to use a heavier boolit which include:

1. Load the heavier boolits in 38 special cases. I don't want to do this.

2. Crimp in front of the forward driving band on SWCs.

3. Trim cases, which I don't want to do.

4. Crimp the boolit in a different place where it was not intended to be crimped.(not exactly sure how to do that on a Dillion Square Deal)

5. Deep seat the boolit a little and taper crimp, but the the boolit style I want to use has a wide front driving band and I would like to utilize that instead of tapering it down..... (the LBT style FN)

I confused, any suggestions?

Crabo

Hapily , I do not know anything about Marlin Jam .

But , my experience is that many / most lever guns do not like SWC's .

I use to cast .44 caliber SWC's for my S&W M29 .

My Marlin or my Winny do not much like them .

Bought a Lee 6 cavity RNL mold and it feeds slick .

Both of my Lee .45 caliber molds are RN , so both those bullets work well in the Rossie Puma .45 LC .

My Winny M 1892 that has been converted to .357 does not much like SWC's , either . Thinking about buying a RN 6 cavity mold for it , too .

My Marlin .45-70 has not been picky about feeding , bun none of my molds , for it , are SWC's .

God bless
Wyr

[Dragoon]

I think you are on the right track. Replacing parts, welding, grinding, rewelding, regrinding....

Much better than going to all the trouble of trimming cases a little bit.

[crabo]

Dragoon, that would be too easy. I do like the way you think, sounds like something I would tell one of my students I teach paint and body, so this is not the stretch for me that it would be for some others.

To answer that observation, I don't want to have to keep the shortened cases separate from my other 357 cases. I have a couple of 357 pistols so I want to be able to use the same brass in all the guns.

I also have another goal in mind here. I have a Dan Wesson 357 Max and I am wanting to get the same boolit to work in both guns. (the LBT 180 FN) I want to be able to use my rifle for hog and deer hunting as well as pistol cartridge silhouettes.

My nature is that if I can tinker and improve things, I am having fun, even if I have a few detours along the way. I have learned a lot already in this process. I got M.L. McPherson's "Accurizing the Factory Rifle" and am now digesting that material. Good book and has a lot of lever stuff in it.

Crabo

[Dragoon]

Mostly just yanking your chain. I can relate to wanting something just so.

[crabo]

My wife does the same thing......

[carpetman]

Crabo--Your wife does which same thing? Is Marlin jam made from marlin berries?

[crabo]

Carpetman, I have been trying to come up with a good smartass reply to your question, but to no avail.

I finally got my rifle running right. I can put in a col of 1.610 and it will feed through the tube and cycle and eject like crazy.

I spent several hours trying to fix a problem that couldn't be fixed. I was try to get the LBT 160 fn to feed through the tube. The front driving band and nose are just too long. I finally realized that I had some RCBS 157 gr rfn and they feed perfect. I also seated some Lee 125 grn cowboy bullets long and they feed great.

I tried the RCBS 200 grain 35 Remington boolit, but it is too long by .100 when crimped in the crimp groove. I wonder how it has such a good reputaion as a game killer when the meplat is so small?

I think I may have to try to design my own boolit and order one from Mountain molds.

SWCs will not feed. Seems like several people told me that. (I didn't try it in 38 special cases)

I learned quite a bit. I leaned I could strip the gun down and put it back together pretty quick. I leaned how the action works. Now I just need to work up some loads before next Saturday and get my rifle sighted in. I know how to make it handle a longer col. (thanks imashooter2)

Thanks for the encouragement guys,

Crabo

[Jon K]

crabo,

There is a simple solution to make the longer boolits work, seat to your 1.610" or whatever length desired, and use a Taper Crimp Die, to hold it in place. This is a must do, if you don't trim to speciic lenth per boolit brand. I try to accomodate the the gun by finding out crimp groove to nose length, before buying the mould, but you can't always find the best shooting boolit for the gun without making some adjustments.

Jon