Marlin Guide Gun arrived...

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, it got here today and I picked it up from the funshop. The owner told me that my Ruger MkII was "probably" sold too if the guy that wants it comes back with cash as promised...

Anyway, the gun... the butstock was loose when I picked it up and the box looked rough - like it'd been thrown around during transit... when I tightened the tang screw, I noticed a hairline crack on the bottom - so this will be going back to Marlin for a replacement - only the second time anything like this has happened to me with shipped gun...

The wood to metal fit on the tang was pretty bad - the wood stuck out (very proud) on one side more than the other.

The trigger was rather heavy but did break cleanly... I cycled a couple dummy rounds with 405 grain cast bullets to check that - they fed just fine but hung up a bit before ejecting - empty brass did not do this. I think I'll mention that to them as well... may as well.

Sorry for the lack of pics, I'll try and remidy that if I get the time.

[Pitchy]

The metal seems to stick out on the bottom more on mine too.
Check to see if the rim of the case is hitting the end of the ejector causing the bullet to hit the chamber. If it is remove ejector and put a bevel on the top front edge of it like the bear proof ones have, mine did that.

[O.S.O.K.]

Hmm, maybe I'll just get a bear proof... I want to get an aluminum follower too anyway...

[dsmith512]

I bought a guide gun about five years ago and when I received it, it has a micro crack in the stock at the tang. I contacted Marlin customer service and they sent me a new stock free of charge without me having to send the gun back. I got the new one, put it on, and everything looked and worked great.

[.45colt]

The same thing happened with mine a few years ago,mine had a small chip out of the wood right where the stock meets the reciver top right on the tang. someone had filled it with what looked like a colored furniture stick. I think it was the dealer I bought it from. anyway I called Marlin customer service and talked to a Very Nice Lady in Customer service. four days later a new stock was on My porch. I don't know if the New Marlington will do this or not. Good Luck with it.

[Pitchy]

Hmm, maybe I'll just get a bear proof... I want to get an aluminum follower too anyway...

What was happening with mine was the rim would catch the end of the ejector and try and eject the shell to early causing a hitch. Because you said it worked fine with and shorter empty case that was my guess.
If ya work the action real slow and watch the shell you`ll see it try and eject early if that`s the problem.

[O.S.O.K.]

Pitchy, looking at it - I think that may be exactly what's going on. Thanks

Upon further inspection it has become clear that the problem with the buttstock is that the inletting is too wide (or the tang too thin?) but even with the tang screw tight, you can move the stock left and right - when it's in the center, the wood actually lines-up on the outside pretty good - only a little proud on both sides. But it moves...

Well, I just called Marlin to see about returning the gun.

The lady asks "are you comfortable changing the stock yourself?" I sez "yes Ma'm that's no problem at all" and so she's going to just send me a new stock... she checked the serial number to be sure and get the right one - sez they're on backorder but should ship in a couple weeks... and that she doesn't need the old stock back... "OK" I say.

We shall see. That's certainly better than having to send the gun back and forth - especially now that uncle batfart dictates that it go through a dealer...

[O.S.O.K.]

OK, here's a picture. Funny, the camera really exagerates the difference in the wood on the handguard and buttstock... maybe the new one they're sending will be lighter (buttstock)... but it really isn't noticible in person...




Looks like a Guide Gun no?

[Pitchy]

Nice looking gun, i like the straight stock, hope ya get er runnin good soon.

[86er]

Nice rifle and good luck with it. The posts that followed yours citing similar problems and additional problems is exactly why I never had interest in buying a new Marlin. I've never had a bad stock fit or any other problems with Win 86's ,94's and 71's that I bought whether US or Japanese made. It is good to see that Marlin customer service is still on the ball sending out a replacement as soon as possible and without needing to exchange the old parts. Let us know how it shoots!

[6pt-sika]

Now the $100 question is whether the "new" stock will fit any better then the one you have now !

If it doesn't and I were you . I'd glass bed one of them and sell the other !

[.45colt]

I hope it works out for You like it did for Me. I have stock #1 for an everyday beater and the second to hold on to. the latter is very nice and I'm a Happy Guy. .

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, I took the exsiting stock off to take a looksy. There were two "chips" cleanly broken-off of either side of the wrist - wierd. Must have take a very hard hit during transit. I removed them and reinstalled the buttstock for now... I am sure that the new one will fit better...

[O.S.O.K.]

Latest development... installed some XS sights - which made something very very apparent - the barrel is turned to the right (not indexed correctly). The dovetail that they cut to mount the magzine tube on the bottom is cut strainght... so you can't just turn the barrel (my first thought - I have a barrel vice) and if you look in the receiver, it looks like there's plenty of room for the extractor cut - it would actually line-up perfectly with the cut in the reciever if I rotated it enough to fixe the sights... weird.

Anyhoo, I called Marlin and they said - send it in... so I am. Switched the XS sights off of course as I'd probably not get those back.

Off to Ilion it goes.

[Pitchy]

If it helps at all that was another problem with my new guide gun, sent it in and they re-indexed the barrel and sent it back right. Took six weeks for mine but maybe they`er getting caught up.

[O.S.O.K.]

If it helps at all that was another problem with my new guide gun, sent it in and they re-indexed the barrel and sent it back right. Took six weeks for mine but maybe they`er getting caught up.

OK, they re-indexed it - but how's the magazine tube line-up? OK? Did they recut the dovetail for the magazine mount?

I'm just trying to figure out how they can do that with the existing barrel and make it work...?

And my gun seemed to shoot great - but because of the loose buttstock, I'd ge weird flyers, so it was hard to tell for sure...

[Pitchy]

I don`t know how they fixed it, all i know is the sight is top dead center now. Mine shot good with the buck horn it was when i put a peep on it and had to adjust it all the way to one side to hit POA.

[C. Cash]

Sorry to hear of your challenges OSOK....that is frustrating. I went through a similar ordeal with my Winchester 94 Trapper with the barrel indexing. Hopefully they will put a new barrel on for you and you get your other issues resolved quickly.

[O.S.O.K.]

I guess they'll do whatever they need to do. A new barrel is probably needed though as I can't see how you would "undo" the two out of whack dovetail slots...