Marlin 1894 feed probems

D

Dirty_Harry

New member
I have a Marlin 1894 in .357 Magnum, and it has feeding issues. Now, I just bought the rifle and have only shot .38 spls through it and I know it is supposed to shoot .38 spl, but this could be the issue. When I try to chamber a round the round will go sideways and get stuck. It gets stick where you put the rounds in (I forgot the technical term). I then have to take my knife and pry the round out. Weird thing is that it feeds better after that first round. Although it does not always feed correctly. Help.
 
how many rounds is it supposed to hold?

I imagine with .38 spec. rounds you may almost have enough room for 1 extra given the oal of the .357.

you just may not have enought room for the "extra" round.
 
It's most likely an OAL problem. If it feeds .357's ok you'll need to either handload .38's to .357 length or load down 357's to .38 velocities or stick to .357's. Or you could send it to back to Marlin.
 
I have only shot magnums thru my 94 but I just got it out to see how it would feed a FMJ 38 round. Seems to handle it OK. I took three photos for comparison. You can see the rim of the round rests on the loading gate. With the lever full forward, the round comes out and is lying on the depressed loading ramp, or maybe called the lifter? Move the lever to the rear 1 1/2" until you feel the first "catch" start, and the lifter should pop fully upwards to the point that the nose of the bullet is ready to go directly into the chamber. The bolt has come forward some too. Then as the lever is pushed back to the stowed position, the cartridge should slide right into the chamber, the nose of the bullet should have been pointed right into the center of the chamber, sort of like loading a torpedo! If the lifter is not coming up high enough or something, you could have wear issues if it is an older gun.
 

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Weird thing is that it feeds better after that first round.
Click to expand...
Almost sounds like a spring pressure problem to me, i.e. you have loaded so many rounds in the magazine that there is too much pressure on the bullet nose and it tries to cant due to pressure on the nose. Try using it with one less round in the magazine, or just use 357 Magnums in it, since that is what it is designed for.
 
Thank you all for the input, it is very much appreciated. I am going to take it out next week and shoot .357 through it. I will let you guys know.
 
That Fiocchi 142 grain conical bullet magnum ammo is pretty accurate thru mine, and it is not really expensive either. Good plinking ammo, but pretty fast, will tear up something solid regardless of expansion, I would expect. Next I will try is the Fiocchi 148 JHP mag. ammo. I also had some S&B FMJ 158 mag. thru mine, it was good but not as accurate as the Italian for me. That is just some choices of cheap magnum ammo to try. You can shoot some US brands, of course, at a greater expense. Mine is an older microgroove barrel, not current Pope rifling.
 
call Marlin

Dirty_Harry: Sir; my shooting buddy has the 1894c and in the beginning; a pain in the a$$. Sir; I would have gotten rid of it. For my buddy I called Marlin and posed part of the issues of failure to feed. I ask them to send a return 'box'
They did. Returned within two weeks; I want one now..
Call Marlin and ask them to send a box for it. They'll take care of the rest.
 
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