[Pitchy]

Newbie here, nice board.
Just bought this new Guide gun-45-70, been working on it steady since i got it but getting close to making a good gun out of it.
Quality was pretty poor out of the box, got home and first thing i noticed was the front sight was way over to one side so i pushed on it and pushed it right out of the dove tail
Called Marlin and they are sending a new sight and base and they were very friendly and helpful.
The action was real rough with lots of burs and rough so stripped it down and polished and reduced the pressure on the hammer spring a little and is now so slick it almost levers itself.
The gun shot three inches low at 50 yards with the rear sight adjusted all the way up so called Marlin again and they are sending a higher rear sight leaf.
The gun shoots real accurate and windage was right on so happy about that.
Ordered a one piece firing pin and spring kit from Long Hunter but no parts are here yet so i`m on hold for the time being.
Other than that the gun is real nice and will make a nice carry gun snowshoeing and all around hunter.

 

[1 big hole]

Nice rifle...and, Welcome fro DFW, Texas

 

[1895Gunner]

Nice looking rifle. Welcome to MO from central Florida!

 

[Pitchy]

Thanks for the welcomes
These Marlins grow on ya, i`m impressed how easy they are to tune and disasemble, it may become a favorite.
I have one other in 35 Rem.

 

[GA196CAV]

Welcome to the 1895 work in progress clan... my GBL is back at Marlin getting "adjusted"... damn thing wouldn't cycle or even pull rounds out of the tube often as not. It also had a 'rough' action. I've got a 35 Rem 336 from the late eighties that I bought as a youngster... first gun I bought with my own money... worked right out of the box pretty as you please and still working. The Winnie 94 my Grand Dad gave me before he passed is shucking like a sewing machine... I remember the day he got it back in the 70's... shot straight and true smooth as silk first time and still is. Shame what's going on now days... now that I'm off my box welcome to the board... I'm pretty new here but there are plenty of folks here willing to lend a helping hand and lots a good info here on these rifles.

 

[Pitchy]

Ok fellers here`s what i did as far as the firing pin, got the new one piece pin and spring kit today but didn`t use any of it. Instead i removed the two piece pin and reduced the tension on the flat spring that is under the pin and made sure the pin moves freely back and forth.
I cut one coil off the lever retention spring which lightened the release pressure by half and i cut 3/4 of a coil off the hammer spring. Also bent the triger spring slightly to reduce it`s pressure a little. These things along with smoothing the entire action has made this Marlin one smooth operating lever gun and i retained the safety feature built into the gun with the two piece firing pin.
I really have no problem using the one piece firing pin but if i can come real close to the same results and keep the safety feature why not.
This is what i did to my gun and not intended as instructions to anyone else.

 

[handirifle]

Ok fellers here`s what i did as far as the firing pin, got the new one piece pin and spring kit today but didn`t use any of it. Instead i removed the two piece pin and reduced the tension on the flat spring that is under the pin and made sure the pin moves freely back and forth.
I cut one coil off the lever retention spring which lightened the release pressure by half and i cut 3/4 of a coil off the hammer spring. Also bent the triger spring slightly to reduce it`s pressure a little. These things along with smoothing the entire action has made this Marlin one smooth operating lever gun and i retained the safety feature built into the gun with the two piece firing pin.
I really have no problem using the one piece firing pin but if i can come real close to the same results and keep the safety feature why not.
This is what i did to my gun and not intended as instructions to anyone else.

Interesting mods. Am curious whether the cut on the hammer spring has caused any fail to fires? Still getting deep primer punches?

 

[Pitchy]

Here`s what i learned about the hammer spring, the idea of cutting 3/4 of a coil off both ends of the spring came from a article i read elsewhere about tuning a Marlin. What happened to me was the spring is twisted tighter on the ends so it doesn`t slip over the stop on the spring guide bar. I cut both ends and installed, shot fine for a few rounds then i had misfires, what happened was the spring wound itself onto the guid bar futher reducing the spring pressue. I ended up installing a thin small washer on that end to fix the issue.
It would be better imo to only remove spring on one end and intal the spring with that end facing the spring retainer plate.
Hope that helps.

 

[Pitchy]

This is what i did to my gun and not intended as instructions to anyone else

I didn`t intend that statement to sound rude, just covering my butt and don`t want anyone to take my procedures as any expert advice.
Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

[Wade505]

Hello from the Piney Woods of East Texas!

Don't worry about a few little bumps in the road doing mods on weapons. I gunsmithed for over 30 plus years and every now and then, I'd hit a brick wall with something. Trimming springs can be tricky. I worked on tons of S&W revolvers doing action jobs on them. One mod was trimming the trigger rebound spring a bit. Once and a while, when thinning down the mainspring by serious polishing, it would get a touch too thin despite every effort to keep it consistant. Metal will react in it's own way sometimes that will defy logic!

You said that was a guide gun? Never seen one with a pistol grip before. Did Marlin start a new model or was this a mod you did as well?

Later,
Wade

 

[Pitchy]

You said that was a guide gun? Never seen one with a pistol grip before. Did Marlin start a new model or was this a mod you did as well?

Yepper new model of the guide gun, factory stock.

 

[moofy07]

Hi Pitchy,
Nice rifle and welcome from Bundaberg, Australia.

 

[Rowdy]

Howdy Pitchy – welcome to MO

Nice looking 1895 GBL. 8)
It is good again to see 45/70’s without the extra dovetail slot in the barrel…

 

[Pitchy]

Thanks Gents.

 

[Wade505]

Well, ya learn somethin' new everyday

Wade

 

[Pitchy]

I tell ya i`m so pleased with the way this gun turned out, don`t know how it could be any smoother.
New rear sights came today and i installed the mid range one and took it out and shot it at 50 yards off a sand bag, the target is four inch in diameter.
The load is a 405 grain cast flat nose bullet over 43 grains of 3031, the first picture was the first volley and second the last. Pretty cold out so it wasn`t a fair test for the gun but all in all i`m happy considering my eyes are getting bad and have a hard time focusing on fixed sights.
I`m going to bump my load up to 45 grains and see how they do later.
The spring that came with the one piece firing pin was to light for the two piece firing pin and i had misfires so put the factory one that i shortened a little back in and had no misfires.
It`s been a fun project and it is a great gun now that the bugs are worked out and i can feel good that i did it myself

 

[zerbe]

Oh my, whose house was that target on?

 

[Pitchy]

The neighbors ;D naw it`s what i had handy when we made the back stop.