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What causes lever to appear "not fully closed"?

3826 Views 11 Replies 9 Participants Last post by  gunscrewguy, 
S
What causes lever to appear "not fully closed"?

Its kind of hard to explain but I've seen this on quite a few Marlins including one of my 1895's.

The bolt is fully forward into battery and the lever is in the full up position and "locked" by its catch. And yet the rear of the lever appears to be hanging away from the stock. In others with everything closed and locked as it should be the lever is not even close to being parallel with the stock. What causes this and can it be corrected? It just looks like crap.

Hope this makes sense.
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44-40 Willy
Re: What causes lever to appear "not fully closed"?

Weak lever plunger?
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S
Re: What causes lever to appear "not fully closed"?

44-40 Willy said:
Weak lever plunger?
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No. The lever is fully in its locked position. Even when being held in a firing position the lever just will not go up any further. The gun is in full battery.
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S
Re: What causes lever to appear "not fully closed"?

scout1 said:
Its kind of hard to explain but I've seen this on quite a few Marlins including one of my 1895's.

The bolt is fully forward into battery and the lever is in the full up position and "locked" by its catch. And yet the rear of the lever appears to be hanging away from the stock. In others with everything closed and locked as it should be the lever is not even close to being parallel with the stock. What causes this and can it be corrected? It just looks like crap.

Hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...
Typo; meant to say "In other words with everything closed..................
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Tomray
Re: What causes lever to appear "not fully closed"?

scout1 said:
Its kind of hard to explain but I've seen this on quite a few Marlins including one of my 1895's.

The bolt is fully forward into battery and the lever is in the full up position and "locked" by its catch. And yet the rear of the lever appears to be hanging away from the stock. In others with everything closed and locked as it should be the lever is not even close to being parallel with the stock. What causes this and can it be corrected? It just looks like crap.

Hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...
Levers can be, and usually were bent in a bench fixture to align them to the lower tang.......... That said, the lever really should only contact the lower tang at the pad at the rear of the trigger opening.

I have seen older rifles that have lost their breech, due to the lever having bent over years of use...........What kind of use does it take to do this?.........I can't say.............
What is being done at Remington to fit levers in this regard?.............I don't know that, either.......

As a word of caution, bending the lever CAN affect the headspace in some cases...........I'd advise having the headspace re-checked if you bend your lever to get a more pleasing alignment to the lower tang.

Tom
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U
I have a 2001 with the same issue. Removed bolt and re-installed lever and appeared to not be parallel with hand grip, so bolt orientation was not affected by the lever itself. Saw a pic of a 2002 for sale with same issue, too. Bought a new Ilion 1895CB and swapped the lever...fits perfectly. Old lever was slightly different in angle and finger loop thickness. Functions fine, but may have come from another rifle at factory OR previous owner mixed them up. Ordered new lever from Brownell's.
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JBledsoe
.

I have several both Marlin and Winchester that do not align perfectly. Doesn't both me.....I suppose everyone needs something to worry about.
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U
Would advise the readers that if an issue "bothers" OR doesn't "bother" you regarding a firearm...remedying it is the best option.
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M1Riflenut
Even though this thread got bumped here from 2011 I'll add a comment. :)
I have a 1948 336 that has a lever that doesn't quite match up when closed. I always wondered if it is a replacement part but it matches for finish and wear. I don't plan on messing with it.
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Fast Frank
How does this happen? The lever is steel and it takes effort to bend it!

I have a theory on this...

The first thought is a question. Who taught you how to operate a lever action rifle?

In my case, the answer is that I learned from the kid next door.

I learned how to operate a lever action rife when I was maybe five years old. It was a Daisy spring air rifle. As I remember it, it was about as long as I was tall.

The kid next door showed me how to hold the barrel with one hand, and put the butt against my inner thigh so I had enough leverage to pull as hard as I could on the handle with my right hand.

It wasn't easy, but if I grunted with everything I had I could cock it.

I also remember using two fingers on the trigger. It was a lot of work for a little kid to shoot that thing, but I remember thinking it was totally worth the effort.

PLINK!

I have actually seen a grown man grab a marlin rifle, prop it against his leg like that, and pull on the lever for all he was worth.

I truly believe that's how they end up bent.
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BFPGW
Thanks for sharing your knowledge on the subject Tomray. Enlightening as always. As it appears to me, there isn't nor was there ever any intention for the lever to be perfectly parallel to the tang. The lever should be closed fairly close to the tang but not so close that some flexing/bending over time might cause the lever to make contact with the tang. Possibly preventing the bolt to go into full, locked battery. That could ruin your day.
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G
2
My very little used 1965 Texan lever hangs down about an 1/8th of an inch from the lower tang at the rear. It bugs me about a 1 or a 2 on a scale of 10. It's a bit springy as I grip it to fire and actually it gives me a bit of confidence that the locking block has tension from the lever against it at that moment. AC

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