Front mag tube stud question, tighten dovetail or???

[Highxj]

Another quick question......I just got done detail stripping a 1895M I got off Gunbroker. Before I tore it down, I noticed the mag tube attachment stud would slide back and forth in it's dovetail rather easily. Now that I have it apart, this would be the time to tighten the dovetail up and snug up that stud.

What say y'all?? Tighten the dovetail or leave it loose?

Thanks!

[Boris]

Had the same thing with my 444P. A tap with a centre punch on the flat side was all it took to snug it up. I say tighten.

[Cowboy23*]

If you don't want to punch dimples on the dovetail you can use Green Loctite in it. Green is oil resistant but still can be removed with a little heat. Do not use Red Loctite on this----this one is like using epoxy glue---will be very hard to remove.

[The Happy Kaboomer]

My 336 XLR came that way. Less "pull" on the barrel. Some say it contributes to accuracy. I left it loose.....Doesn't hurt a thing.

[kingstrider]

Been there done that. I would not mess with the dovetail on the barrel but would tighten up the magazine stud. Usually 1-2 punches will give it enough to go in with a perfect friction fit.

[JBledsoe]

.

I intentionally leave my magazine dovetails loose, if not loose I make them loose, it aids accuracy. Both studs (mag and fore end) will fall out when disassembling the rifle. Why would you want them tight, they cannot fall out. Several changes will make a Marlin 336 more accurate, that's one of them.

[tradarcher]

Yep, leave it.
As far as loctite goes, green is usually permanent. I use green loctite sleeve retainer on flat head cylinder liners.

[alawrence]

Leave it loose. You will have better accuracy, especially once that barrel starts heating up.

Andrew

[JFE]

On my 45/70 eventually the two dovetails holding the mag tube to the barrel loosened up. One dovetail retained the forend tip and the other the magazine stud. I tried peening over the dovetails and then applying epoxy but that didn't hold them for long. Eventually I had both parts silver soldered to the dovetails and nothing has moved since. If everything is lined up properly before silver soldering accuracy should be fine. The accuracy of mine is unchanged.

[bikerbean]

Loose stud = non-issue.

BB