My Marlin guide gun has been one of my favorite rifles but in recent years it has become a nightmare. I have returned it to Marlin now 3 times.

At first, after ejecting a round, the lever stuck in the down position when trying to chamber the next round, causing me to have to take it apart to free it. It became a single shot lever action rifle.

Next the lever would stick in the engaged position after a round would fire and I was unable to eject and chamber a new round.

It came back from Marlin recently (after they said they did this and that) and I took the rifle out today in prep. for an elk hunt in two weeks. Fired six rounds, loading two in the tube each time to make sure they functioned. The first two were my Nosler handloads, the next six were the new Hornady Leverlution rounds. Worked fine, sighted in.

Came home lowered the lever to pull a swab through to take out the fouling, and could not get it to close. Could not get the hammer back, and after trying it a few times, off and on, finally ended up with the lever stuck in the halfway position.

I believe this is either a factory defective rifle, or Marlin's technicians are incompetent.
(They did also ruin a perfectly good trigger job done by one of the nation's premier rifle builders).

Had this not been a gift, and engraved as such, I would just throw the damn thing out.

I plan to call Marlin again tomorrow and request a new rifle, to be first sent to the engraver to re do what this one has had embellished on it. It failed me twice on hunts (but with good first shots thankfully did not need a second) and I have lost all confidence in it.

Hunting pals of mine have never had a like experience.

quote:

I believe this is either a factory defective rifle, or Marlin's technicians are incompetent.

that about sums it up.
given the history of the brand you would think they would want this problem to go away. perhaps they would have swapped out atleast the action but it is engraved, so felt compelled to "fix" the thing.
greg

billinthewild
Had this same problem with my '94 CBL 357. take the Mag tube off -remove the spring and cap -check to make sure there are no burs in the tube /spring or cap! Did this and the problem went away. The spring would catch and allow a round to just freely move out of tube and jam the action up.

But now the lever is jamming with no ammo in it!
Called Marlin this a.m. Very pleasant. Offered me three choices.....refund, new gun, or repair. The first two won't work as it was a gift and engraved. Repair? Again? This time they promised me they would replace all the internal parts....we will see.

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:

Called Marlin this a.m. Very pleasant. Offered me three choices.....refund, new gun, or repair.

well atleast there trying to help.
greg

Glad they are trying to work it out with you. They usually have been pretty good when I have had problems. As for your trigger job, most places will usually return triggers to factory specs when a gun comes in for repair or maintaince, I know T/C is bad about it.

Something different with T/C, several years ago I sent in a T/C factory 30-30 rifle barrel that I had SSK rechamber to 309 JDJ for a T/C Muzzle Tamer and they refused to install it and sent it back. I called and talked to Mr. French(I think he was one of the top guys at the time) and he said no problem send it back in and they would take care of it. He even paid shipping both ways for me to send it back to them. Good luck with your Marlin.

Steve E.......

quote:

Originally posted by billinthewild:
But now the lever is jamming with no ammo in it!
Called Marlin this a.m. Very pleasant. Offered me three choices.....refund, new gun, or repair. The first two won't work as it was a gift and engraved. Repair? Again? This time they promised me they would replace all the internal parts....we will see.

If the problem is the spring or the magazine plunger cap contacting and sticking on either the edge of the mag tube, the gap between the tube and the receiver, or on the the lifter (or any coimbo of the three), it MAY not matter whether there is ammo in the tube or not. In fact, that might make it more likely to jam with the mag empty than with the magazine filled.

I would also examine the lifter, the bolt, and the ejector, to see if something was damaged (nicked or burred) during replacement of the parts after the trigger job. That would be my first suspicion. The second would be a damaged "interuptor", allowing the magazine plunger to hang up at the front of the receiver.

Hey Bill, It looks like Marlin is treating you just the way I would have expected them to with the offer to do whatever it takes to get the problem resolved to your satisfaction. I've always enjoyed dealing with Marlin, but never had to go through sending one back a bunch of times.

I believe they will get it fixed for you and then it will probably be one of your Favorite Firearms.

Best of luck to you.

Hot Core. That's why I am trying to be patient. It is one of my favorite rifles....frustrating....everything from hogs to Muskox, red deer, and buffalo. Big or small it does em all. Several times I was sure glad I did not need the second shot.

I wish it was like the Timex watches John Cameron Swayze (died 1995) used to advertise for...."takes a lickin and keeps on tickin...."

"Swayze---despite a brief turn anchoring an evening newscast for ABC---was more familiar for a series of commercials he did for Timex. Again, his flair for writing or handling catchphrases banked him: "It takes a licking and keeps on ticking" ended up living even longer than hopscotching around the world for headlines did, as Swayze appeared in Timex spots that amounted to mock newscasts before delivering the catch-phrase at the end of the spots. Swayze did the Timex spots for over two decades."

Hey Bill, I remember him too. And the Timex watches still work fine.

Be sure to let us hear "how great" it is working when you get it back this time.

Fixed....once the snow clears I will know for sure. Received the rifle back from Marlin last week. The story. If you have ever removed the buttstock you will notice two small wood "tits"
at the very front of the wrists on each side of the stock where it joins the receiver. They said that one had broken off and was jamming the action.

Now that may be the fault of one of the best looking piece of wood I had ever seen on a factory gun. They replaced the stock, new wood not bad. What I also wish they had done was re do the fine trigger job it had instead of returning it to factory (lawyers ) specs, and moved the Limbsaver pad to the new one. That said, if it now works well once again, I can do those two items with ease.

Bill
You are the first guy I have ever heard of breaking a tit.

Glad they got it fixed.

Jim.....Squeezed too hard I guess.....