Marlin guru needed, please

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 12:26 pm

I have a Marlin 336A .30-30 with the "F" prefix serial number, made in 1949 IIRC. I cannot get the bolt out. I have at least 4 different books that detail how to get the bolt out, but it doesnt work. I remove the lever and the bolt is supposed to slide right out, but it comes up against a very firm mechanical stop. I thought maybe there was a "too long" screw in the receiver sight but I removed it and made no difference. I am missing something somewhere here, can anyone help? Thanks.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Thu May 29, 2008 12:29 pm

Ejector is loose and catching it?

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 12:45 pm

Ejector appears normal, the little stud is sticking out the hole in the side of the receiver. Ejector functions normally. I tried fiddling with it a bit to no avail. The "stop" that the bolt comes up against feels like something big and very solid.

meanc · Post by **meanc** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:00 pm

Does it cycle and function/fire/eject like it should when it's together?

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:23 pm

Yeah, works perfectly fine. Only problems is it STAYS togather, cant get it apart!

meanc · Post by **meanc** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:44 pm

First make sure the locking bolt is down, then try it.

If that doesn't happen, take off the forearm, buttstock, lever, trigger plate. Then remove the hammer assembly, and the locking bolt.

Bolt should just slide right out with out anything hindering it.

jdad · Post by **jdad** » Thu May 29, 2008 1:58 pm

Jerry,
It sounds like the locking bolt is getting stuck. I had this happen when I had a broken firing pin. Really odd, but it was.

Take the stock off, release the hammer spring, then remove the lever, trigger plate, etc. and you'll see what's going on.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:04 pm

OK, how far down is the locking block supposed to come, with the lever removed, the bottom of the locking block is flush with the bottom of the trigger plate.

I sure dont want to have to completely detail strip this rifle every time I want to clean it. Might have to just clean from the muzzle, although I hate to do that.

meanc · Post by **meanc** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:12 pm

Trust me, it'll be easier to do it now and figure out what the problem is.
And after the first time you'll see it's a very simple procedure.

Pisgah · Post by **Pisgah** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:30 pm

It slides out partially, then come to a stop, right? At that point, put a bit of downward pressure on it while giving it a firm tug. Sounds to me like it may just not want to ride over the hammer, and downward pressure will cam the hammer down just a tad more.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:37 pm

Well, fellers, that was an adventure in troubleshooting!!

Had to take it down to the point of removing everything including the carrier to find the problem and then had to look hard. Turns out to be the extractor clip, circular piece of sheetmetal that encircles the bolt partway and holds in the extractor. This piece of sheetmetal protrudes just a few thousanths above the circumference of the bolt body and is too large to fit throught the bolt hole in the rear bridge of the receiver. I managed to compress it with a brass punch to get it to go through the hole and finally got the bolt out. I will now stone it down to proper dimension and see if I cant get the bolt to slide in and out properly, and will order a new extractor clip from Marlin or Brownells. Will keep you posted. Best Regards Jerry

Leverdude · Post by **Leverdude** » Thu May 29, 2008 3:10 pm

Likely someone got it a bit out of round removing & installing it, not hard to do at all. Glad you figured it out.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 3:44 pm

Well, about 30 minutes with some stones and some emory cloth, it now works slick as can be. Although the outside and the bore of this rifle are in really great, almost as new condition, it was obvious that it had never been detail stripped before, there was quite a bit of old solidified lube and a tiny bit of surface rust here and there, so I took the opportunity to clean up all the internal parts real nice and stone off a few little burrs on the contacting surfaces, and polish out the bolt. Even got it back togather with not parts left over

Thanks again for all the replies and the leadership. Much obliged. Jerry

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Thu May 29, 2008 4:42 pm

Don't ya love it when it's easy? Anything I work on usually just quietly dies....

jdad · Post by **jdad** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:46 pm

Be thankful it was just an "easy" Marlin and not a Winchester.

jnyork · Post by **jnyork** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:50 pm

jdad wrote:Be thankful it was just an "easy" Marlin and not a Winchester.

I dont usually do the "W" word!!

awp101 · Post by **awp101** » Thu May 29, 2008 9:23 pm

BlaineG wrote:Anything I work on usually just quietly dies....

Hey, better than going out with a BANG!:lol: