Marlin jam striked again!

[centershot]

I must be cursed! I had really looked forward to hunting deer with my 44 mag Marlin carbine this year. Monday night while unloading my gun back st the car the second round out jammed. Looking into the port I could see that the carrier was "letting in two", as Marlin puts it! Did the same thing again this morning!!! Sooooo, it now sits in the gun case while the 357 goes hunting! This is the second go-round for the 44 with this "Marlin jam" stuff! Back to the gunsmith......

[damienph]

I have four Marlins of varying vintages (and have owned three others) and luckily have never experienced the dreaded "Marlin Jam". Is it only pistol cartridges or others as well?

I have 30-30, 32 WS, 35 Rem, 444. Never had any problem with them.

[harry]

I've seen 4 of the "Marlin Jam's", all were at the range while guys were trying to eject rounds out real slow so they wouldn't hit the ground and get dirty.

[44-40 Willy]

I've owned several Marlin 1894s since the late 70s, still have two (357 & 44-40) and have yet to experience a jam from "letting in two". Not saying that it don't happen, but it's not as common as some let on. Now I will say that I've had more problems out of Marlins in 44 Mag than I have any other caliber. If I get one now, it's just trade bait for later on.

[6pt-sika]

I've owned several Marlin 1894s and have yet to experience a jam from "letting in two". Not saying that it don't happen, but it's not as common as some let on.

I'll second the above by 44-40 Willy !

All mine now are 444's , an 1895 and a 336-44 and knock on wood none of them have done it to me . And I eject the rrounds slow so they don't hit the ground also .

[FatJackDurham]

I don't know if it was letting in two, but I cycled too fast and got jammed with the elevator lifting the round before it was in. Because of the mechanism, I couldn't put the elevator down again. I had to disassemble the magtube and push the round through.

[AJMD429]

Mine has only done that with working the action other than horizontally, and working it slowly.

The problem (for me) is when unloading I need to try to be safe and it is tempting to aim the muzzle down or up, and of course to go slowly. That's one reason I actually LIKE the dreaded Marlin Safety. I still only point the muzzle at things like a tree or concrete wall, but working the action horizontally seems to help avoid "the jam".

[earlmck]

Is it only pistol cartridges or others as well?

Both action types can suffer the "Marlin jam" but the cause and the fix may be a bit different for the pistol cartridge vs. the regular rifle cartridges. I have 4 of the 336 actions sitting in my gun safe now and two of them I got "good deals" on because they had the dreaded "Marlin jam". So I have no idea how common the problem is as a percentage of total production, but 50% of my Marlins had the problem; one in 30/30 and one in 35 Rem. I've never heard of the jam happening with the big rimmed cartridges -- 444 or 45/70. Anybody know of it happening with them ever?

The fix was easy and has been totally failure-free for many years. I posted on the fix a year or two ago and then got referred to a bunch of other posts on the same topic with slightly different strategies for fixing, but apparently all worked out. http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... marlin+jam

[Ji in Hawaii]

I've own my 1976 vintage Marlin model 1894 in 44 mag since new and mine has been 100% reliable all these years (knock on wood).
I've popped allot of critters over the year with my 357 mag rifle using 158 grain JSPs and have full confidence in this load for critters up to deer. With 180 grain loads I'd fear no pig. I think you'll have fun with your 357 this season.

[Griff]

What OAL are you using? Sounds like the cam timing is a little slow.

[J Miller]

I have had 5 Marlin 1894s, one .357 and 4 .45s. None of them ever had a "dreaded Marlin jam". But my current one did jam on me in the range when I cycled the action slow and incompletely at the bench. Somehow the carrier rocker got out of alignment or something and jammed the rifle.
I've not had this happen again and I've learned to cycle the lever smartly and completely no matter what the occasion.

There is a few threads in the articles section on our home page about fixing and preventing the D.M.J..

Joe

[Leverdude]

The pistol calibers are more prone to it than rifle cal;ibers just because of how it works. The lifter comes up just enough to stop the lext round from coming into the reciever when you open the action. It does this when the body of the case is still part way inside the tube, so theres more wiggle room with a tapered bottleneck case that the guns were designed for that with a straight walled revolver case like a 357 or 44. That said I'v only ever had trouble with one 357 and if I had it today I think I could fix it. The pistol calibers only have the difference between rim diameter and case diameter to work with. Getting the lifter to come up just a tad higher will cure it. You can bend it or put some material where the lever cams it up at the BEGINNING of the opening stroke.

[bobbyjack]

Although I don't have any Marlins now I have Win and Win repros,and I can push my

finger down on the loading gate and a cartridge will pop up and out(repeat over untill empty)

If the mag tube spring is weak you will then lever the last round upside down and let fall!

I know everyone has there own way of doing it!

Bob