Marlin 336 loading gate mal-function.

[Huntinfool]

I have my uncle's 336 and the loading gate is sprung I guess or the screw holding it is loose or something.

I've never owned one of these or worked on them. The gate is staying in and it of course inhibits cycling of the action.

How hard a job is it to get inside of this thing to fix it? Or can it be fixed without disassembling.

Thanks,
~HF~

[Leverdude]

try tightening the small screw right behind the gate. Its what holds it in place. If its broken, stripped or altogether out, the easiest way to get it back will be to drop the trigger plate so you can reach up in there good & hold the spring flatt while starting the screw.

[Huntinfool]

Thanks that fixed it! LOL! Boy don't I feel stupid.

He brought it over here a couple weeks ago and I told him I'd look at it! Which I really hadn't done yet.

I told a friend I was going to ask you guys and save myself a lot of grief. Guess I did! LOL!

Thanks,
~HF~

[MrMurphy]

I had that happen on my 1894 Marlin, and not knowing leverguns took it into a gunsmith, who figured it out in about 0.02 seconds and showed me how to correct it.

I actually need to loosen it slightly, the gate is REALLY sprung and it makes loading tough.

[Sixgun]

Glad to see you fixed her up. Most problems with guns, especially ones that do not have a lot of wear can be fixed with a bit of common sense.

We all tend to get the "heebie jeebies" when something goes wrong with about anything in life that we only have limited experience with. Calm down and get in there to see what makes her tick. --------------Sixgun

[AJMD429]

Loosen it up temporarily, then apply a drop of Blue Loc-Tite or something similar, then re-snug it. That should prevent too much trouble in the future.

Next time you visit MidwayUSA.com see if they have some Marlin screws and extra parts on their 'clearance' section; they often do. A spare of each of the screws isn't a bad thing to have.