I have an old 1895 Marlin with the square bolt. It is a parts gun dragged back from the brink of death to be a functional (semi functional anyway), lever gun. However, it jams with pretty good dependability. I thought I knew why, but now I have my doubts. I'm looking for suggestions or ideas, but let me explain the situation.
- It is a .45-70 with a new Green Mt barrel on it. It also has a new magazine tube and miscellaneous other parts.
- The carrier is old, flat (no "U-shaped" guide on the front like some), but appears to be for a .45-90 - which is good news to me.
- I am loading this will black powder and a paper patched bullet. The overall length can be very long because the bullet is slightly less than bore diameter at the front. Thus, an overall length of 2.78" is no problem. See photo of carrier below.
- After loading the magazine with one shell, it will cycle every time.
- Putting a second round in the mag AFTER the first is chambered, will let it load every time as well.
- Loading two shells into the magazine will often, but not always, result in a jam where the carrier cannot rise. Pushing the following round back into the magazine with a house key will allow the load on the carrier to rise and chamber.
So, in a nutshell, I have an effective 2-shot rifle, IF I chamber the first shell before loading the second into the magazine. I would rather have 2 or 3 shells in the mag with the chamber empty until I need it. But this seems to not work reliably.
Here is my question, when I push the shell in the magazine tube back about 1/8" or less, allowing the carrier to rise with a cartridge on it, what is the pushed bullet stopping on? What is holding it back and allowing the carrier to come up? I cannot see in there when the jam occurs. More to the point, when it functions properly, what is stopping the following cartridge from riding out that last few 1000ths of an inch and jamming the carrier in the down position?
This rifle will be used on bears in May.