Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions Marlin 375 1/2 mag tube questions

I’ll openly admit I’m not a lever action know it all…. With that being said, I took the mag tube off my Marlin 375 today so I could put a “plug” in it to make it a single shot to make it legal for deer hunting in Illinois.

The rifle has always been a bit finicky accuracy wise so today when I had it apart a few things got me to thinking I may have found possible causes behind its accuracy issues.

First off, when I re installed the cap that holds the front of the fore stock the screws both had a lot of tension on them. Meaning it was nearly impossible to get them to line up with the holes in the tenon. I had to put a lot of pressure on the mag tube/fore stock/cap to get it to line up well enough to get the screws started.

Secondly, the mag tube “mount” that is dove tailed into the barrel ( it’s a 3/4 length tube) appeared to have a “little wiggle” to it. I had to put some PB Blaster on the front mag tube screw to get it to come out. When I was tightening the screw on reassembly I noticed some of the PB Blaster was bubbling out from under the dove tail because it was moving a bit when I was tightening the screw.

Do these things seem normal or are there issues here that need addressed?

Thank you in advance.

I saw a video on YouTube just last night. The man had bought a 1974 made 1894 in 44 mag. Seems the bottom of the barrel hadn't been machined enough from the factory and the mag tube had to be bent to get it to line up. He had returned it to the seller and bought another one made in 1979. That one was straight and easy from the factory.

The only two Marlins I've had apart , one 1894 and one 336 were both straight and easy to re-assemble. The 336 was made in 71, I don't know when the 1894 was made.

I think the wiggle in the dovetail is designed in so that you can get it aligned easily. The stress the tube imparts to the barrel will likely cause accuracy issues but the rifle is still probably accurate enough for intended purposes.

Thx Dave.

Curious if you tried to mount the forend and cap without the mag tube in? If the cap screws line up without pressure it might be a good way to test fire and see if the tube pressure was causing the accuracy issues. Could always leave the tube out since you're limited to a single shot.

I know you know this, but, when reassembling, start every screw first. Once all are started, tighten and torque with Fat Wrench from receiver to muzzle. If scoped, you will need to re-zero.