Increasing COL of Marlin 1894?

[BAGTIC]

Does anyone have any experience with opening up the cartridge follower, or otherwise, in order to slightly increase to usable COL in the Marlin 1894? I have done it is a Winchester M94 .45 Colt and it worked great but I have never made any modifications to a Marlin.

Even .1-.2 inch would be a great improvement.

[Griff]

Does anyone have any experience with opening up the cartridge follower, or otherwise, in order to slightly increase to usable COL in the Marlin 1894? I have done it is a Winchester M94 .45 Colt and it worked great but I have never made any modifications to a Marlin.
Even .1-.2 inch would be a great improvement.

No. But, I have (still am), worked on one to get a significantly shorter cartridge to feed. This isn't all that difficult to accomplish. Make a new cartridge stop on the carrier and speed up its timing. My trouble is that now that I've sped up the timing for the short cartridge I have to change the timing curve so it;ll still feed the original, longer round.

The problem presents itself in the speed at which the carrier does three things: 1- raises to present a cartridge to the bolt so it can be chambered; 2- drop to allow a new cartridge to escape the magazine; and, 3- raise slightly to keep the next round in the mag. AND, it does all 3 in ½ the full cycling of the lever. On the forward stroke of the lever the only that happens is the bolt is retracted, (and a case ejected if present); it's when the lever is pulled back that everything else happens! So the timing is critical.

The "snail" on the lever is what does this. Now, you might gget lucky and by removing some material from the block on the carrier gain enough space for your extra long cartridge. But... you're moving the rim rearward and slightly lowering it when sitting at the proper feed angle, and the bolt just might not have enough rear travel or depth to pick up the rim to start the cartridge up & forward into the chamber. Secondly, the extra length just might be enough so the "dwell" isn't enough to allow the cartridge completely clear the magazine, getting pinched btween the "jaws" on the carrier and the top of the mag well. This is what's happening in my gun right now. I'm still trying to finesse my timing to accept both cartridges. It's a very delicate balancing act.

You'll face the same issue if you ever go back to shorter projectiles. Sans using two different carriers.

Here''s a pic of mine:

You can see the extra notch I cut for the shorter round just begind the "wings" on the left. In addition you can see the extra material I JB welded to the bottom of the snail ramp. This what I'm re-profiling to change the timing.

[AJMD429]

Someone on here is using a .360 Dan Wesson cartridge in a levergun; forget if it is a Marlin or not, but if so, he may be able to help out...

P.S. - I guess it's not a Marlin - http://www.levergunscommunity.com/viewt ... =1&t=45721

Still may have similar issues/solutions though.

You could also look on marlinowners.com, and specifically for the 360 DW cartridge, since it is a 'bit-longer' type modification.

[BAGTIC]

Thanks. I will check MarlinOwners.

The Winchester M94 .45 Colt Trapper was very easy. It was increased by .3 inch and still feeds factory rounds interchangeably. With the extra COL it can duplicate factory 300 grain .45-70 velocities. It will also accept long ogive cast bullets that give better down range velocities without the increased recoil that would come from increasing velocity.

[1886]

Mic McPherson does that work. You can find him listed in the gunsmith section. He performs other useful mods. to the Marlin. 1886.