[Malle]

I've had my 1895CB for little over a month now. The gun looks like a dream, but that isn't what keep me awake at night. No, the darn thing just won't work the way it should. The cartridges will get pinned between the magazine tube and half way up the carrier. I have pulled the gun apart, looked it over and scratched my head. I thought that the problem was a result of the gun being brand new -and that it would get better by use, but no. I have put 350 rounds trough it, but it still keeps jamming. Frustrated cannot begin to describe how I feel!

I have actually considered to take it back to the shop to get my money back. The thing is just that I won't be able to find an other 1895CB for sale here in Norway.

But now I think I finally got it narrowed down: a weak magazine spring. I have registered that the gun never jams when my buddy shoots it. He cycles the action veeery slowly. I have gotten in to the habit of cycling my lever guns rather briskly -but without short stroking the action- since I read somewhere that that was the way to go with such guns. My other Marlins never jams when I cycle them this way. My 1895G´s magazine spring offers much more resistance than the spring in the CB, and the 1895G delivers the cartridges to the carrier with much more authority. If I cycle the CB with a complete stop at the end of the forward stroke there will be no stoppage. If I cycle it briskly the carrier will start to rise as soon as the lever starts back to the locked position -and the cartridge get pinned.

This got rather lengthy, but does it make any sense to you? Is there any provider of stiffer magazine springs, or should I just stretch the one I got?

I don't mind if the gun gets a bit harder to load -or if I should loose some magazine capacity- as long as the gun works reliable.

Thank you for any input on the matter .

 

[Tomray]

Malle,

Remove the spring, and stretch it EVENLY to increrase the length by about 5 inches. Also, remove the mag tube, and inspect the hole in the receiver to insure there are no burrs in the hole.
Doing both, should fix your problem............

And if I'm right,.................Send me some Smoked Salmon !!!!.................. ;D ;D ;D

Tom

 

[Malle]

Thanks Tomray! I'll give the spring an (even) stretch tomorrow.

And if I'm right,.................Send me some Smoked Salmon !!!!.................. Grin Grin Grin

I'll be happy to send you some smoked salmon, but I would advise you not to eat it. Mail takes about forever from here to there... Besides, I think the smell would make your unfortunate mailman less than happy.

If you ever come to Norway, give me a word and I'll serve you as much salmon as you can eat. That's a promise! Right now this is the best I can do:

 

[Tomray]

Malle,

;D ;D ;D ;D.........That Salmon looks Delicious!............Of coarse I was kidding, but you knew that............

I used to be able to order that as an Appetizer in restaurants here, but it has disappeared in the last 15 years..... :'( :'(

Let me know how you make out with your rifle.

Thanks for the picture, I'm hungry, now............

Tom

 

[nbh40]

Malle,

;D ;D ;D ;D.........That Salmon looks Delicious!............Of coarse I was kidding, but you knew that............

I used to be able to order that as an Appetizer in restaurants here, but it has disappeared in the last 15 years..... :'( :'(

Let me know how you make out with your rifle.

Thanks for the picture, I'm hungry, now............

Tom

The Reds are just starting to trickle into the rivers up here. But mail from AK probably not much quicker than Norway :

 

[Tomray]

The Reds are just starting to trickle into the rivers up here. But mail from AK probably not much quicker than Norway :

nbh40,

Thanks, but your probably correct................I appreciate your offer, none the less..........I luv Smoked Salmon.........Don't care for the cooked salmon available here, but the smoked is delicious!

Thanks,

Tom

 

[Combat Leverguns]

The stretched spring might work temporarily, but it will rapidly return to its "set," maybe weaker then before. At least it should give you time to test your rifle to determine if it is a weak link-though it may only work (or not) for 1-3 mag fills (my experience is a lot of range time with tired mags of S&W 9mm and Glocks with +2 mag extensions with tired springs, and overextending the spring works, but temporarily).

If the spring is weak, your best bet is a fresh replacement, a longer one from another rifle, or a gunsmith modification to shorten the magazine length (resulting in a reduction of rounds, but aiding reliability.

Good luck, hope this helps solve this

 

[Malle]

The stretched spring might work temporarily, but it will rapidly return to its "set," maybe weaker then before. At least it should give you time to test your rifle to determine if it is a weak link-though it may only work (or not) for 1-3 mag fills (my experience is a lot of range time with tired mags of S&W 9mm and Glocks with +2 mag extensions with tired springs, and overextending the spring works, but temporarily).

I'll try to make do with stretching the mag spring, but see your point of the spring tension slacking off after a while.

I'll guess I have to try to get my hands on a replacement spring since there seems to be no gun smiths in my country who know a thing about Marlins. Using one from an other rifle won't work since my 1895G and 336XLR have much shorter tubes than the 1895CB. I checked Midway and they only have magazine springs for the shorter tubes, but maybe a mail to Marlin (or should I say Remington by now?) could help me out? After all, the gun was new and unused when I bought it, so it should work properly.

I thought about shortening the mag tube by making some sort of “filler” (in lack of a better word) by inserting some sort of tube in the far end of the magazine. This will give me a reduced magazine capacity, but that doesn't matter much as long as the gun will feed properly.

If I can find a competent gunsmith I could have him cut the barrel and magazine to make the gun resemble an LTD -which is a wicked looking gun by the way- but I like the long barrel and sight radius of the CB. An other option would be to cut a couple of inches of the barrel and install a short mag tube from a standard 1895, but this would off course ruin the good looks of the 1895CB' s full length mag tube.

 

[wavehopr]

Looks like Brownells has them for $8.36 but I don't know if they will ship to you.

 

[Malle]

Thank you for the tip wavehopr !

I will send them an email to see if they can ship me a new spring, but I couldn't find one that were made for the 1895CB.

 

[wavehopr]

Either of these should work:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=8642/Product/MAGAZINE_TUBE_SPRING

http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Detail.aspx?pid=800100-05BJ&catid=3974

 

[Pitchy]

It`s hard for me to believe the spring is at fault.
Have you removed the lever from one of your other Marlins and compared it to the problematic guns lever, take note of the area where the plunger on the carrier goes over it and see if that`s different. If you look in the ejection port out in the sun so there is good light take notice how the action works and ya might find something else that`s causing the problem.

 

[micky_blue]

Completely off topic, but I was in Norway last week and that is an amazing country. People are just wonderful. Very kind, very helpful and thankfully all spoke English. I was only in Tonsberg and Oslo but just loved it. I do have to comment on the cost of everything there and wow was that a shock. I think that is partially due to the last several rounds of jackasses devaluing the dollar but we don't do politics here. I can't wait to return, possibly in a few years after I get this last trip paid off.

 

[Malle]

I have tried both the lever and the bolt from my 1895G in the CB -but not shot it that way- and the exact same thing happens- in the 1895G the cartridges snaps home, but not in the CB. It's easy to see the difference between the the two when the cartridge slides from the mag to the carrier.

It`s hard for me to believe the spring is at fault.
Have you removed the lever from one of your other Marlins and compared it to the problematic guns lever, take note of the area where the plunger on the carrier goes over it and see if that`s different. If you look in the ejection port out in the sun so there is good light take notice how the action works and ya might find something else that`s causing the problem.

It's also noticeable when loading: the 1895G offers a much firmer resistance/ spring tension. The action seems to work in the exact same manner in my three Marlins. I cannot spot any difference between them when cycling their actions.

For a while I thought that the problems were caused by tension in the long magazine tube. I have tried it with a very loose fit in the dovetail and with a tight fit, but there seems to be no difference.

The only difference is if I cycle the gun slowly or briskly. If I cycle it slow -and with a pause at the end of the forward stroke- there is no hangup. If I cycle it briskly -like I'm used to do- the cartridge will get pinned between the mag tube and half way up the carrier.

Well, if nothing else this problem provides me with a greater insight in the mechanics of the rifles from my favorite maker. I'm positive that there is a solution to this, so I'll keep banging my head against the wall until something breaks.

Once again: thank you all for sharing your knowledge.

Completely off topic, but I was in Norway last week and that is an amazing country. People are just wonderful. Very kind, very helpful and thankfully all spoke English. I was only in Tonsberg and Oslo but just loved it. I do have to comment on the cost of everything there and wow was that a shock. I think that is partially due to the last several rounds of jackasses devaluing the dollar but we don't do politics here. I can't wait to return, possibly in a few years after I get this last trip paid off.

Expensive??? Yup! Right now the cost of diesel is about 2,5 USD per liter. That should make it just shy of 10 USD per gallon. This in addition to various road tax, income tax, fuel tax and what not. I won't tell you how much we have to pay for a decent car. You just wouldn't believe me!

But do come back! And if you are a hunter you should make it a hunting trip. The most beautiful part of Norway is the west coast. Lots of stuff to see and a lot of game and fish to catch.

 

[nbh40]

IIRC there is only one spring size for 1895s, irrespective of model/mag capacity etc. So you will not find a longer one.

Start with the mag follower, if it is plastic, change it out for alloy or better a stainless one from DRC. Then go to town on cleaning out the mag tube and very light oil to get everything in there running smooth.

Stretching a spring may actually be counter productive, they are designed by clever people and by stretching it will lose it's elasticity and may actually bind up in the mag tube.

Also, take the carrier out and check it for tool marks and lightly stone and polish them out, especially the part that contacts with receiver hole to mag. Very possible that the rounds are binding slightly on the carrier and slowing them down.

Once cleaned, hit everything with and air gun/compressor to blow out any bits of sand, grit, metal shavings.

I know many guys that put light polishing compound on the internals of lever guns and sit working the action while watching a movie, just to smooth things out.

 

[Malle]

Thanks! That sounds like a very good idea. I'll try this out before stretching or changing the spring.

 

[Pitchy]

Malle, what did you find?
I used my 1985 cowboy and used a un-primed case with a bullet in it and levered it as fast as i could with no jams. The mag spring seems pretty light in it so i`m thinking you must have another issue.
If it were mine i`d disassemble it and check for burs and look for something obvious.
Or take it to a gunsmith and have them look into it if ya don`t feel qualified to mess with it.
Good luck.

 

[Malle]

I haven't had the time to take the rifle apart yet, but I will post here as soon as I do.

 

[Malle]

I had some time on my hands today, so I totaly dismantled my troublesome 1895CB. I gave it a good cleaning, oiled the parts and tried to identify any problem areas. I even gave the magazine spring a slight work out. But nothing was gained. The gun keeps jamming if I work the action briskly.

I still don't want to give up on this gun just yet, but it reminds me more and more of a girlfriend I once had: looks like a dream, but totally unreliable and good for nothing.

 

[Levergunz]

I had some time on my hands today, so I totaly dismantled my troublesome 1895CB. I gave it a good cleaning, oiled the parts and tried to identify any problem areas. I even gave the magazine spring a slight work out. But nothing was gained. The gun keeps jamming if I work the action briskly.

I still don't want to give up on this gun just yet, but it reminds me more and more of a girlfriend I once had: looks like a dream, but totally unreliable and good for nothing.

Malle,
I would try pulling the trigger plate off and inspecting the carrier,inside of the receiver where the mag tube is placed and the inside of the loading door for burrs.Make sure the loading door screw is tight.Also check the inside of loading door for a proper angle.Perhaps the cartridge rim hangs on the loading door.These checks should only cost a little time.