Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers 1895 Marlin lever unlatches...

what causes this? i'm shooting 350 gr. cast over 48 gr. H4198. should be mild enough. this 15% below what some guys are feeding theirs. what do i do?

what holds the lever latched, and what causes it to unlatch? it looks to me like that spring loaded plunger on the lever holds it closed and recoil opens it, but that is just a guess on my part.

I ran your data through Quickload, with a 350gr Hornady flat point (jacketed). It calcs pressure at 40,748 lbs-psi, and 1945 fps. You might be treading on too much pressure.

I'm not shy about working the boltguns up to warm+, but I go easy on the Marlin, keeping my loads around a calc'd pressure of 30K psi. The thing with the Marlin 1895 is that you will not see any indicators on the brass until you are already in very unsafe waters.

I agree with MontanaMarine... I stay under max...


That said Both Mine and my son's 450 Marlin (Marlin Lever Guns) will do the same thing with factory loads if we don't hold our hands properly.

I think it is the recoil causing us to put a bit of pressure on the lever.

Can you try pulling the trigger with a string?

the Lee, Lyman, and RCBS bullet files in QL have cast bullet models, and while i haven't found a .350 gr cast bullet yet, the 340 gr cast with this load shows 35,500 psi.

the best max pressure estimate for the Marlin 1895 that i've came across was 40K psi, in an article HERE by a guy that used to run 45K psi loads, and backed them off to 40K max after doing research into this.

i really don't like leaving performance untapped in anything that may see backcountry duty, but i do NOT need to make a .458 Win Mag out of it either. i guess i just was hopin' for a little more recoil.

My 1895 does it sometimes with factory loads too..

I calculate 35.000 psi with Quickload as my max. Mostly I stay around 32.000 psi.

Some how neither brown bear, hogs, stags, bucks have complained.

It bears repeating - mass and shape, not steam makes a .45-70 bullet sing.

seriously, dude, my load is within ~500 psi of your 'max' (also from QL), and i'm not interested in what animals haven't complained.
i AM interested in why my 1895 pops the lever with ~35,500 psi loads when other guys routinely run MUCH hotter loads through theirs. what are the forces at work here? is it just the inertia of the lever overcoming the spring loaded latch under recoil? or is there some other force at work popping the lever from within the action?

Are you sure you are holding it tight enough?? Get a good grip on it. I shoot buffalo bore 300 grainers @2350fps out of a 22" barrel and also 405 grainers and 430 grainers at 2000 and 1925 fps. I had my lever unlatch with the 300 grainers, but I just took a tighter grip and I was fine. Hold that thing like a man.

Pray forgive me. I had only noted Montana marines figures.

I only mentioned the above because you were talking backcountry - the loads/guns do year round backcountry duty, both in Germany and in Alaska.

To answer the question - I have never had the levers pop open with any load.

Looking at the internals, though, I think the finger suggestion has merit.

For comparison, Hodgdon lists pressures for the 350 gr Hornady jacketed round nose and H4198 as:

48.5 gr = 2036 fps, 32,200 CUP
54.0 gr = 2191 fps, 39,300 CUP

That's from their on-line data, in the .45/70 lever action section. For several years I ran jacketed 350's over 50 grains of H4198, with no problems, good accuracy and good velocity.

I used to pop the lever on my Guide Gun open time to time when I'd shoot. Almost never happened with the curved grip of the standard 1895 rifle. I attribute it to grip.

Regards, Guy

CMG, understood, but i need to sort out this rifle regardless of what load i settle on.

GuyM, thanks. i looked on the Hodgon's site too, but i missed that it had a lever gun section. that makes my load look milder than QL predicted. this rifle has the pistol grip and big loop, and both of these features may add to the forces popping the lever open.

My QL predictions are different (higher) than Hodgdon's published figures, also, even with the 7% "fudge factor" thrown in.

Toad,

just a hunch - that a factory lever? I have noticed a difference in "lock up" between a tuned gun and my worn factory one. The new lever and internal tune made things easier to move and I seem to recall a comment about popping open on recoil.

it is box-stock. i have a few goodies ordered for it but haven't done anything more than clean it up and shoot it.

So,

Will it "pop open" with factory loads?

And have you had a chance to thr fireing it from a rest with a string or wire?


Snake

no. i have a different lever on the way, and i'm holding off to see if the latch on the new one will hold better.

then i'll try other stuff.

Use caution if you use different brass from advertised loads, Starline has less capacity than Winchester, Remington even less so higher pressure with given charge.