Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions Marlin 336 breech bolt problem

Hi all, long time lurker, first time poster.

On manipulating the lever on my Marlin 336 30/30, my breech bolt strikes the hammer, and even when the hammer is already cocked, the breech bolt is still in contact with the hammer. Is this normal?

If I'm picturing what you're saying correctly, yes. There is a "lump" on the bottom of the breech bolt which is what pushes the hammer back far enough to click into the full-cock notch. If the hammer didn't touch the bottom of the breech bolt, the hammer would drop back to half cock when you close the action.

Tom

Thanks for the info, Tom. For a while there, I thought I'd bought a lemon. I was assuming that the cocking of the hammer was an internal process (I'm mostly a semiauto guy). It also seemed to make an otherwise wonderful rifle very rough to actuate. Hopefully, it will smooth out after a while.

No, it's not normal. Do you have a hammer spur on the hammer for use with a scope? If so, check to see if it's allowing your hammer to go all the way back. There's two types of spurs, one has a window cut out that the hammer fits into, the second slides onto the hammer, but without any material below the hammer (see pics below of this type). The type with the window cut out can interfere with the hammer going all the way back, even though it's cocked. Or your hammer and/or sear has been messed with. There is a bump on the bottom of the bolt that contacts the hammer, and cocks it, just as the lever is opened. After the action is opened beyond the contact with the bump there's a cut away in the bottom of the bolt that the hammer shouldn't be touching when the action is open.

Hammer being cocked - contact with bump on bolt bottom:


Hammer fully cocked - in cut away, no contact:

Hmmmm...

I do have a hammer spur, but it isn't in contact with the breech bolt. I can't even slip a dollar bill between the hammer and the breech bolt. In your second photo above, the uppermost tip of the hammer would be pressed against the notch in the breech bolt. Kinda like if your hammer were allowed to travel forward about 1/4 inch or so.

It was like this when I bought it new, about 2 years ago. We've got almost no gunsmiths in my area that don't strictly deal with tacti-cool weapons, so I'm trying to find a DIY fix. I'll take anything at this point, though.

Call Marlin and send it back to them, it would be cheaper than DIY. You can get parts at Numrich http://www.gunpartscorp.com/catalog/Products.aspx?catid=618 , but fitting trigger/hammers/sears isn't for the inexperienced...

Uh oh. Those schematics always give me delusions of adequacy ("I'll just take the old part out and click in the new part. How hard can it be?") Thanks for the warning, KC.

I didn't register my rifle with Marlin, as I'm none too fond of the nosy questionnaires they make you fill out, so I guess I'm looking for a gunsmith. Oh well, at least deer season is still a few months away.

Try giving Marlin a call anyway. I've never registered any of mine either and they've worked on them without a hassle getting them to do so, although customer service might have changed since Remington/Cerebus bought them... If you tell them it came that way from the factory and you're the original owner they should fix it. Good luck!

Well, it's now on it's way back to the factory for them to take a gander at it. I've been told that Marlin got bought up by the same holding company that bought Remington and Bushmaster, and customer service and quality control has been going downhill ever since. Hopefully such is not the case.

When my rifle finally gets fixed up, I'll post the results here in case anyone else has this problem. I know I had the devil of a time finding any mention of the problem before I posted my question here. Thanks again for everyone's help.

**UPDATE**
I just got my rifle back from Marlin. Thanks to Dick's Sporting Goods footing the bill, I didn't have to pay for the work or transfers. However, and this is a big however, it is the same as when I sent it off. Apparently it costs $43.00 and 2 months for the new Marlin to decided that nothing is wrong with a rifle, despite evidence in their hand to the contrary.

Word to the wise: No new Marlins, Remingtons, or NEFs.

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I know that time flies but how did all this take place in 3 days? Your first post was on 03/25/11 and today is 03/28/11. And how is it that you made a post on 03/29/11 when today is only 03/28/11? I think that something is wrong with the forum calender.

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Dude, next time wait until the coffee kicks in ... Check your calendar, today is 5/28/11, so it's been about 2 months.

To the OP, bummer about the lack of Marlin factory service... Guess I won't be buying any new ones.

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That would explain it. I'm posting too early in the morning.

I will make no more early morning post.
I will make no more early morning post.
I will make no more early morning post.
I will make no more early morning post................

Been there, done that.