795 Bolt Hold Open Problem

[RasalGhul]

My wife recently bought a new Marlin 795.  The gun is wonderfully accurate and hasn't jammed once out of over 1000 rounds so far - Minimags, Federal bulk, etc.  When we got it home from the store, I disassembled and cleaned it thoroughly before we fired it.  From the very first clip, the gun has failed to lock open on the last shot.  The manual hold open works fine, but it never activates after the last shot.  Cleaning hasn't helped or buying two new magazines.  When cycling by hand, it locks open on an empty mag every time, but never when firing.  I don't think the problem is worth the time or trouble to send a $100 gun back to Marlin.  By the way, we've tried several types of ammo from standard velocity to hyper velocity and it has made no difference.  Any ideas on a cause or fix? 

[zero-in]

I encounterd the same issue with my 795. Called Marlin and they sent me a new magazine as well as a recoil spring at NC since it could have been the follower, the spring or both. In addition, ran CCI mini-mags down the pipe and also cleaned the gun thoroughly as I did when I initially cleaned the packing grease out of of the gun. Net result, bolt started holding open whether I used mini-mags, American Eagle, of Winchester Wildcats. I then tried using the original magazine and recoil spring with the same result, it held open most of the time. The only time it wouldn't consistently hold open is when I used dirty ammo,  then I would clean the crud out of the chamber and action, use the same dirty ammo, and had hold open until the chamber got crudded up again.  Find that when I keep the dirty stuff out of the chamber as much as possible, clean the extractor well, and lightly lube if any including the bolt, it functions well.

In your case, you ran multiple rounds without a hitch, then had problems. So doesn't sound like running the gun until it wears in works for you. I only can say that cleaning the crud out of the action, lightly lubing your gun, and using cleaner burning less dirty ammo helped me. Changing out the parts realy did not seem to matter. As with my AR, it runs better when wet with lube, but appears that our Marlins run better dry with a minimal amount of lube.

Good luck,

Mark

[RasalGhul]

Mark,

Thanks for the reply.  Actually, it never did work from the beginning...not once.  My first thought was the magazine.  Then the recoil spring (bit stiff possibly).  It may very well be crud and/or grease I missed on my initial cleaning.  I think it may be time to strip it down again and give the action a good soak, then a scrub, and a reassembly with very light oil.  You're right about ammo.  I've noticed some of it is definitely filthy.  Remington anything seems to be the worst.  Even Aguila seems cleaner though it does have the funkiest smell.  I do love mini-mags, but they are horrendously expensive compared to Federal bulk which seems to have the best balance of price, performance, and cleanliness.  A soon as I get the time, I'll clear the work bench and do a complete tear down and scrub on the 795.  If that doesn't fix it, I'll try calling Marlin, but like I said previously, it just isn't worth the time and hassle to send a $100 gun back to be worked on for a fairly minor problem.  The gun shoots fine and is still safe either way.

[zero-in]

Marlin will work with you sending you what you need to get up and running. Agreed that CCI's are cost prohibitive, and only use those as a diagnostic round. American Eagle bulk is a good comprimise and it's federal ammo. I'll be going out to the range this weekend for some plinking as I fit some new tech sights on the gun. Hopefully, I won't run into hold open problems, but again and intinially, I had those hold open problems like you with the completion of every mag full of ammo, then it appeared to smooth out.

Good luck