Marlin 336 jammed

Kevin Peacocke

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Our Marlin 336 is jammed with the lever down and the action back. There are four rounds in the tube, it looks like one of them has come partially back to be fed but wasn't in position and the case bent a bit when I tried to close the action. Can this be fixed by removing the lever pivot pin or is there more to it?
 
You should be able to push the round back into the magazine tube from the loading gate and try to load the rifle again. If this happens again, there is a good possibility that the finger lever has caused an indentation in the carrier that has to be repaired for proper function. This would also include rounding of the finger lever at all points of contact to avoid this happening again (it is also worth doing for ease of use as well).

Is there a round in the chamber? If so, do not removed the finger lever, it is what prevents the movement of the firing pin when the action is open.
 
You should be able to push the round back into the magazine tube from the loading gate and try to load the rifle again. If this happens again, there is a good possibility that the finger lever has caused an indentation in the carrier that has to be repaired for proper function. This would also include rounding of the finger lever at all points of contact to avoid this happening again (it is also worth doing for ease of use as well).

Is there a round in the chamber? If so, do not removed the finger lever, it is what prevents the movement of the firing pin when the action is open.
Thanks AustinM. No round in the chamber. So do I remove the lever by screwing out the pivot pin?
 
Thanks AustinM. No round in the chamber. So do I remove the lever by screwing out the pivot pin?
@Kevin Peacocke
When you remove the lever pivot pin the bolt just slides out but be CAREFUL you don't loose the ejector in the side of the action as it falls out very easily. But it is just as easy to put back in if you don't have big boofy fingers.
Bob
 
@Kevin Peacocke
When you remove the lever pivot pin the bolt just slides out but be CAREFUL you don't loose the ejector in the side of the action as it falls out very easily. But it is just as easy to put back in if you don't have big boofy fingers.
Bob
Thanks Bob. Once I removed the lever and the action the rounds just came tumbling out, problem solved. Quite a complicated mechanism though, makes me appreciate my No1 even more!
 
Thanks Bob. Once I removed the lever and the action the rounds just came tumbling out, problem solved. Quite a complicated mechanism though, makes me appreciate my No1 even more!
@Kevin Peacocke
If you think the Marlin is complicated try pulling apart a Winchester lever action.
Don't even think of pulling a No1 apart you will need 3 hands to put it back together.
Bob
 
@Kevin Peacocke
If you think the Marlin is complicated try pulling apart a Winchester lever action.
Don't even think of pulling a No1 apart you will need 3 hands to put it back together.
Bob
Just don't forget your German engineer friend and lady luck if want to take a winchester or No1 apart.
 
Just don't forget your German engineer friend and lady luck if want to take a winchester or No1 apart.
@AustinM
The Winchesters are a piece of cake once you have done it. The No1s are a simple design but a nightmare at the same time.
Bob
 
@Bob Nelson 35Whelen
I saw it taken apart one time by a first timer and after he kept losing all the little parts, I decided to stick to the Marlin, by far my favorite lever-action rifle.
@AustimM
The Marlin lever action is simplicity at its finest. One screw and done how much easier can it get. Geez even I can't stuff that up.
Bob
 
Take your time with most of them and they are not complicated nor hard to work on. Sometimes I've used Youtube assist :) and sometimes a book- like this one. This book has most common models. The Win 92, 86 and 71 are similar enough so a guide for one will mostly work for the others. The 94 and derivatives are open bottomed so a little easier than the closed bottom models like the 92, 86 and 71. The basic Marlin lever gun models are similar to each other and you can tell were designed by someone different than the Winchesters designed by Browning.

Any model with heavy, preloaded internal coil main spring can be a bugger because of the loaded tension required for re-assembly. The basic function and designs for most are fairly simple though.

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Our Marlin 336 is jammed with the lever down and the action back. There are four rounds in the tube, it looks like one of them has come partially back to be fed but wasn't in position and the case bent a bit when I tried to close the action. Can this be fixed by removing the lever pivot pin or is there more to it?
Mr Peacocke,by any chance was the round that got all Jamed up in the leveraction a Hornady LEVERevolution round ? I have had the same thing happen 3x while using the Hornady ammo in my 1895gs and only the their ammo. Never happened while using flat nose reloads or other manufacturer ammo .
 
Mr Peacocke,by any chance was the round that got all Jamed up in the leveraction a Hornady LEVERevolution round ? I have had the same thing happen 3x while using the Hornady ammo in my 1895gs and only the their ammo. Never happened while using flat nose reloads or other manufacturer ammo .
Hi David, no not Hornady, I think an East European (Checz)? brand. They were pointed, I think that is the problem.
Regards, Kevin
 
Many or most tube magazine lever guns are very length sensitive for ammo. The bullet is the length variable in ammo that may cause the problem. The cartridge "on deck" needs free clearance to move to the rear under magazine spring pressure, running into a stop nub in the action, then tip up in prep for feeding into chamber. If a cartridge is too long, the bullet's point or nose can catch on the end of the mag tube, prevent the tip up and jam the works. Another common issue is the on deck cartridge trying to overrun its order in the feeding sequence and jumping past that stop nub. Those are small parts that can wear or bend over time under hard use. Working the action in slo-mo while carefully watching the loading/ejection sequence may reveal the culprit. But many actions somewhat rely on inertia of movement so slo-mo operation is not always possible.
 
Hi David, no not Hornady, I think an East European (Checz)? brand. They were pointed, I think that is the problem.
Regards, Kevin
Hey Kevin, as a long time user of lever actions, I would not use pointed bullets in a tubular magazine rifle, the tip of the bullet rests on the primer of the next round and may detonate on recoil, this excludes those leverolution rounds or whatever they call them by hornady.
 

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