[Smith]

Gentlemen...

I understand that the Marlin Guide Guns, or perhaps leverguns in general, have some inherent idiosyncrasies that may detract from consistant performance.  I've picked up bits and pieces on this and other forums, but I was wondering, Can somebody please summarize those quick fixes and the symptoms they address?  I would guess that many people who now own these rifles would benefit from the data.

Thanks,

Smith

 

[JONAH]

Well, I haven't done the 1895, but go to www.marauder13.homestead.com/irons.html and see my article on the 1894 Marlin.  Should be of some help.

 

[brookie 444]

Jonah's article is the best.
The trigger on the 1895 is too heavy and flops around. Best fix i've found is the wild west happy trigger kit -easy drop in-about$80.00.
Pachmar decelerator--tames recoil
change sights-peep or scope
Main spring---Seven makes a tuned [email protected]$15.00

 

[Marshall Stanton]

Fire-lap that barrel!  Get rid of the barrel constrictions where the rear sight and magazine tube  each dovetail into the barrel.  Judicious slugging of the bore will reveal 0.001"-0.003" constrictions at these points.  While it doesn't appreciably affect performance with jacketed ammo, these constrictions act as undersize bullet sizing dies when shooting cast projectiles, being positively detrimental to any semblence of accuracy at higher velocities.

By the way, don't fire-lap with the currently popular methods using jacketed bullets!  You'll find much more gratifying and long-term satisfaction when lapping with oversize lead bullets of BHN 11-12 impregnated with lapping compound and fired at AIRGUN velocities.

FWIW!

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[Smith]

Gentlemen...

This post sat unanswered for a long time.  I appreciate the replies and the advice is well taken.  I have purchased Mr. Stanton's tech guide and plan to firelap all three of my .45-70s accordingly.  I have yet to slug my new Guide Gun, but I have indeed found restrictions in the barrels of my Ruger #1 and Browning High Wall right where Marshall said they'd be.  That brings me to the next question...  Why are there bore constrictions where dovetails, barrel bands, etc., have been placed?  What is the mechanical cause?  Just curious.

Regarding the sights, I fell in love with New England Custom Gun's Ruger rear peep sight.  Two of my #1s now wear them.  NECG makes a similar sight that mounts to a Weaver base.  I intend to try that with the Guide Gun.  Currently only a one-piece aluminum Weaver mount is available for the 1895 series, but I plan to shorten it to the minimum length, as appropriate, or have a steel one made (a local custom gun shop manufactures their own Weaver bases).  Has anyone done this, that might offer some advice?

Cordially,

Smith

 

[MikeG]

Smith, when a dovetail is cut or a hole drilled, some metal is removed, and some displaced.  That is the nature of machine work.  If it's done after the bore is drilled & rifled, some of it is displaced into the bore.

"How much" depends on the speed/feed rate of the cutter, and how sharp it is also.

If you've ever drilled a hole in a thin piece of metal, you might note that the hole is rarely 'clean' on the back side.  There are usually burrs pushed up.  Same thing.

 

[Smith]

Mike...

I'm not a machinist, and I'm having difficulty visualizing metal being displaced into the bore itself, unless the metal between the dovetail and the bore were very thin.  I would expect metal to be displaced in the direction of the path of least resistance, i.e. on the edges of the dovetail cut.  Drilling two holes very close to each other, in thin sheet metal, demonstrates this.  The first hole drilled will lose its shape as the second hole is drilled.  As the distance between the holes increases, the degree of deformation decreases.  Nonetheless, yours is the best explanation I have received yet and I appreciate your taking the time to respond.  

So...How about the constrictions under the barrel bands?  Aren't they just soldered on?

Cordially,

Smith

 

[MikeG]

I believe that some of the barrel bands are held on by dovetails, so basically the same problem.  If they're not, then I don't have any idea what would cause it.

As far as the metal displacement goes, yeah, it seems hard to believe, but consider that they're running a factory and need to build rifles as fast as they can.  So I imagine that the cuts are being made about as fast as the machinery can handle, and cutters changed out as seldom as necessary.  All these factors tend to make the metal displacement worse.  The guy who gets the last gun before the cutter is changed is may have a bad constriction, and the guy who gets the first one from a new cutter may have none at all.

You'd be surprised at how thin the metal in a barrel can be, once you get away from the chamber.  Pressure drops pretty fast so it is manageable.  A .45 bore is a pretty big hole and the dovetail takes a pretty good bite.  Get the calipers out and do some measuring.  Let's just say that the barrel at the rear sight is, oh, .800".  Take out .458-.460" for the bore, divide by two, that leaves about .170 for each barrel wall.  A dovetail is probably going to be a good .100", maybe .125".  So the thinnest point over the dovetail cut could be as little as 0.050" - 0.70", or thereabouts.

I don't have a .45 Marlin in front of me, so these measurements are not exact, but you get the idea.  Would be curious to hear from anyone who can measure one exactly and find out what the numbers really are.