[Snapping Twig]

I've been shooting .44 magnums no problem. I reload and use cast and so far even SWC's feed like butter. The problem is with specials. My magnum brass is WW, but the special brass is RP. Same bullets, but that doesn't appear to be an issue because when I load the tube to cycle the first round, the lever sticks in the full open position.

I pushed the stuck bullet forward into the tube a bit to cycle the lever and unloaded the rounds through the gate, then I loaded up some magnums and no problems feeding. Tried the specials, same result.

The specials feed manually through the ejection port, fire and eject properly.

Mine is a 1978 pre crosbolt safety model.

Any advice?

 

[stans4]

I've been shooting .44 magnums no problem. I reload and use cast and so far even SWC's feed like butter. The problem is with specials. My magnum brass is WW, but the special brass is RP. Same bullets, but that doesn't appear to be an issue because when I load the tube to cycle the first round, the lever sticks in the full open position.

I pushed the stuck bullet forward into the tube a bit to cycle the lever and unloaded the rounds through the gate, then I loaded up some magnums and no problems feeding. Tried the specials, same result.

The specials feed manually through the ejection port, fire and eject properly.

Mine is a 1978 pre crosbolt safety model.

Any advice?

This looks like a revisit of the other poster's problem, only not quite so bad. I suspect you have what folks call the "Marlin Jam", you can google on it and find out the symptoms and fixes for it. Chances are, your carrier timing is off just enough that the rim of the following round is making it onto the carrier before it comes up enough to cut off the magazine. Probably the carrier is worn just enough that it does it with Special-length cartridges and not with Magnums. It's got over 30 years of wear on it, after all. It may eventually get bad enough that it does it with anything. There are a number of fixes, easiest is to replace the carrier and polish off the sharp edge on the lever causing the wear. It gets progressively more involved from there, the carrier can be tweaked by bending, the worn spot can be welded up, lever can be welded up at the sharp edge and reshaped, shimstock can be added, there's a bunch of things folks have done. As I've said before, you can get educated about the carrier and timing by pulling the bolt and ejector and watching things through the bolt slot as the action is cycled. Chances are, you'll see the rim of the following cartridge hanging up the action. The good part is you can stick a finger in there to free things up with the bolt out.

Stan S.

 

[Papalote]

Had the same problem with my 44 of similar vintage. Some say they will cycle, but mine will not. I shoot only magnum brass in mine

Papalote

 

[Snapping Twig]

This looks like a revisit of the other poster's problem, only not quite so bad. I suspect you have what folks call the "Marlin Jam", you can google on it and find out the symptoms and fixes for it. Chances are, your carrier timing is off just enough that the rim of the following round is making it onto the carrier before it comes up enough to cut off the magazine. Probably the carrier is worn just enough that it does it with Special-length cartridges and not with Magnums. It's got over 30 years of wear on it, after all. It may eventually get bad enough that it does it with anything. There are a number of fixes, easiest is to replace the carrier and polish off the sharp edge on the lever causing the wear. It gets progressively more involved from there, the carrier can be tweaked by bending, the worn spot can be welded up, lever can be welded up at the sharp edge and reshaped, shimstock can be added, there's a bunch of things folks have done. As I've said before, you can get educated about the carrier and timing by pulling the bolt and ejector and watching things through the bolt slot as the action is cycled. Chances are, you'll see the rim of the following cartridge hanging up the action. The good part is you can stick a finger in there to free things up with the bolt out.

Stan S.

Let me rephrase it...

With a full or mostly full magazine tube, an empty chamber and noting to eject, when I throw the lever forward, it jams - nothing makes it out the magazine tube. There are no rounds anywhere in or on the carrier - they just don't exit the magazine tube and they jam the lever forward.

I don't think that's the marlin jam.



The marlin jam is when a second round pops out and gums things up.

Mine never make it out of the magazine, BUT, magnums show no signs or ill effects and feed like butter.

Go figure.

 

[stans4]

Let me rephrase it...

With a full or mostly full magazine tube, an empty chamber and noting to eject, when I throw the lever forward, it jams - nothing makes it out the magazine tube. There are no rounds anywhere in or on the carrier - they just don't exit the magazine tube and they jam the lever forward.

I don't think that's the marlin jam.



The marlin jam is when a second round pops out and gums things up.

Mine never make it out of the magazine, BUT, magnums show no signs or ill effects and feed like butter.

Go figure.

And you are correct, that isn't it. Have you cleaned the magazine tube lately? It's a reach, but can you compare the diameter of the Special case rims with the Magnums? A fatter rim might hang up. If your action doesn't lock up when levering it with it empty and locks up with a cartridge in the tube, it still sounds like a timing issue. Either that or the one type of cartridge is hanging up in the magazine tube at the exit for some reason. You should be able to see what's going on if you pull the bolt and ejector, put the lever back in, load it up and see what the rim is doing with the carrier. With the lever all the way closed, a case should be released part-way onto the carrier and be blocked from further movement by the lever. As you push the lever loop forward, the magazine spring will force the cartridge onto the carrier and eventually the carrier will rise to cut off the magazine. The whole cartridge should be on the carrier at that point, if not, it'll block the carrier and the works will jam up. Comparing how Magnums and Specials act should give you a clue as to what's going on.

Stan S.

Stan S.

 

[dgslr]

The manual that came with my 1894 44 mag says the minimum overall cartridge length should be 1.535.Mine feeds 1.490 but I have trouble with shorter length's.The short length allows them to be out of the mag tube and cocked slightly but not on the carrier trapped between the carrier and the receiver.The carrier has the rim,pushing the round up,against the receiver.You can push the round back up in the mag tube and the carrier moves.If they were sightly longer they would cycle.I hope this helps.