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1894CSS .357 Feed Into Chamber Scrapes

2011 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Golfbuddy45
Some of you helped me with my new 1894 CSS that was not lifting cartridges high enough and jamming with the cartridge tilted as it was going into the chamber. After working on the lever and carrier action surfaces I was able to correct the lifting problem. I reported in that thread that the cartridges would feed in OK but would scrape on the front edge of the chamber as they were going into the chamber. I spent a little time today comparing the CSS that was scraping and the other CSS that is not. Check out the two pictures below:
The picture on left shows that there is an INWARD BEVELED EDGE inside the rim of the chamber of the CSS that scrapes the cartridges. I made a cross section image in RED of what the edge looks like. Before I cleaned it out you could see slivers of brass on the outside edge. The picture on the right show the other CSS where the edge is straight with a slightly rounded outer edge.

I am thinking of using a right angle polishing wheel on my Dremel to polish that beveled edge even with the inside of the chamber and a little rounded on the outside like the one that works. What do you folks think of that idea? - OR - do you have any better suggestions?

GB45
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My 1894, when it was a 44 mag used to scrape up the brass when chambering, and you could feel a little drag. There was a slight burr around the chamber edge that was the culprit, small enough that I had difficulty seeing it but could feel it with the end of a paper clip. A tiny bit of filing took care of the problem, no more nicked up brass. Now that it is a 45, the chamber is so big those cartridge just fall into the chamber, smooth as all get out! ;D
That is one rough chamber! I had issues with rough chambers (but not quite that bad) on both a 1894C and 338ME (the 338ME was nearly impossible to cycle after firing). I used a dremel tool with polishing wheels and it cleaned them up good and I haven't had an issue since (had to make a special little hold to reach into the breach with the dremel). You will have to work at it with the polishing wheel a little longer than I did but it does work! Here are the weblinks, the second one shows the tool setup near the bottom.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,68510.0.html

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,71613.0.html
The polished chambers looks good in the referenced posts. Both of my CSS's are very rough inside as you can see in the earlier pictures. They were both made in North Haven but only a few months apart in 2009 so perhaps they did not get polished as much as some. Before I posted this I did not know if they needed to be smooth or not but I checked my 1895GS .45-70, 1894SS .44 Magnum, and 336SS .30-30 I found them all to be very smooth in the chambers.
So not being a procrastinator I went into action - - I took out my Dremel with the Flexible Extension Handle and put a felt polishing tip on it.

Removed the Lever and Bolt and there is plenty of room for the handle. Stuck the spinning tip into small pot of Dremel Polishing Rouge and spent about 10 minutes inside the chamber polishing that entrance port real good. Polished the inside of the chamber the length of the polishing tip, about an inch and a half. Polishing Rouge is RED and you can see just a bit of it after I cleaned the chamber with gun wipes on a rod.
Before picture on the left - - - - after only 10 minutes of polishing on the right - - - - -

Put her back together and fed 4 tubes of .357 142gr Fiocchi cartridges through her and all slide in as smooth as silk with ZERO feed or eject issues.
I plan to spend a little more time polishing this one up to get those thin lines out you can see in the picture. Beauty of it is this is not taking off any metal, just smoothing it all out.
I will do the same on my other CSS even though it is not having any problems and will probably do my other 3 Marlins just to have them all shiny and avoid in futures feed problems.

As usual we have the info we need on this great forum.
Thanks for all the help ! ! !

GB45
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Great job!!! you are almost there, another 10 minutes and it will reflect the rifling :)
My .44 had something similar, but not as pronounced. I generally use hand tools and stones when fitting up guns, a lot more are damaged with a Dremel than are ever fixed. I used a spherical white aluminum oxide stone and just revolved it by hand to remove the burr. Some time was spent afterwards with a roll of crocus cloth polishing the chamber and it feeds and extracts now with no scratches on the brass.

What interests me is how the chambers get rolled in that way to start with. A chambering reamer shouldn't leave a burr like that, it's almost like the back of the barrel was repeatedly hit and rolled the burr in. Couldn't be the bolt, if it contacted the barrel, it would be out at the case rim, not at the body.

Stan S.
I thought the same thing when I first looked with magnifying glass and found the edge beveled inward. However, you can see the mill/grind lines on the end of the barrel so it was not hit as you might think would cause the bevel.

As for the Dremel this is one of the older flex shafts that has the thin handle and it fits perfectly inside the bolt openning with room to spare. The felt tips are a hair over 30mm and fits almost perfectly in the .357 chamber. Where the screw tip of the adapter fits into the tip it flares out to just under the .357 size. I only had to move the handle in and out to buff the interior of the chamber. I did my 2nd CSS last night and it really polished up nice since it was not nearly as bad as the first one. I have done a lot of polishing and grinding with a Dremel and I know just how fast you can mess something up if you do not keep a constant eye on your work. The .44 Mag will not be a problem to polish but the .30.30 will be tight. I will shave off a bit of the felt tip to give it a thinner diameter.

GB45
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