Need help on J.M. Marlin .22 Little Joker

[txcoyote]

I have a .22 short seven shot revolver that I got from a great uncle 35+ years ago. It is branded "Little Joker" by J.M. Marlin New Haven Conn. U.S.A. According to what little information that I can find, it is one of about 1,100 manufactured between 1871-1873. It is a single action repeater with nickel plated brass frame and blued 2-1/4" barrel and rosewood grips. The serial number seems to make it one of the last ones manufactured. The finish is in pretty good shape and grips are in really good shape. Looks like it spent a lot of time in the proverbial sock drawer. About the only source of half way decent information that I can find is at pages 118-119 of this book http://books.google.com/books?id=iR...sig=ze0CCgl1Q44vhm-TnKTvBjX4t68#PRA2-PA119,M1

It has a loading port on the right side that you could load and unload one cartridge at a time if you had to, or wanted to. It also has a center pin that is released by a push button to extract the cylinder to empty and reload. The push button is free. Everything seems to operate as it should. The timing seems to be right on the money. Based on the looks of the inside of the barrel, it was shot some and needs cleaning, even though there is a barely visible cycling ring on the outside of the cylinder.

I want to clean it and oil it up, but I can not get the cylinder pin to come out. Yeah, I know, I should have done that when I first got it, but I've had it wrapped and stored since I got it. I hate to use pliers on the cylinder pin, even though that is the one piece that appears to have had pliers on it in the past. Everything else works as it should, but I just can't seem to get the pin out with my fingers.

Any suggestions on getting it apart and cleaning it without hurting anything?

Any idea on value?
Not interested in selling it, just curious about value for insurance purposes.

If I ever did decide to fire it, is modern era .22 short ammo OK to use without hurting it, or me?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[Hawg]

Push the button and the pin should come out. If it looks like it's had pliers on it before it's probably always been difficult to remove, fouling build up maybe. It is definitly not safe with modern .22 shorts. It'll shoot bb or cb caps ok tho.
DGW has one for 695.00.

 

[txcoyote]

The button pushes in easily, as it should to remove the pin. The pin spins with the cylinder but does not move either inward or outward when you try to get it out. I was leaning toward the cause being fouling around the pin also. I may try some penetrating oil (someone suggested PB Blaster) and drip it in down the pin and around each end of the cylinder.

Thanks very much for the link to DGW. That's the first one I have seen for sale. If they think that one is in "very good" condition, then mine is excellent. My cylinder and barrel are much cleaner than that one and my grips look perfect compared to the gouges I see on the grip in that picture. The action on mine seems perfect. It also looks like the DGW piece was stripped down to the brass frame and I thought they were all nickel plated over the brass frame. Excellent to have a reference piece to compare to! Thanks again. I'm even more pleased with the family heirloom, even if it probably will never be shot again.