New 1895 wouldn't feed

[rfletcher]

I picked up a new 1895 .45/70 yesterday.  When I got it home I put together some loads.  I loaded a round in the magazine tube and when I tried to chamber it the round only went in about 1/3 of the way into the chamber.  Upon inspection I could see that there wasn't enough clearance in the extractor to allow the rim to seat on the bolt face.  I live about two hours from the shop I bought it at and didn't really want to deal with the hassle of sending it back to Marlin so I took it apart and filed/polished the bottom of the extractor.  After a bit of stoning it finally began to feed but I couldn't get it smooth and it dented the cartridge cases.  While feeding I could pull the extracter just a bit with the end of my fingernail and it would feed as smooth as silk.  I thought about bending the extractor a little bit but instead slipped a shim made from a business card under the end of the extractor in the extractor groove.  At least temporarily the rifle now operates properly.  Tomorrow I guess I will call Marlin and see if they will send me a new extractor.  Even if I have to pay for it that is cheaper than the fuel to take the rifle back to the gunshop.  I have never had any problems with any firearm I have bought and Marlin has been my favorite brand of rifle but this was a bit of a disappointment.  Any way, I loaded up some rounds using the accuracy load listed in the Sierra manual, 49.9 grs of !MR 4198 with a Hornady 300gr JHP.  Has anyone ever used this load?  Hopefully I'll get out this afternoon to try them out.

[Virginiajoe]

Same thing happened to me. My wife bought me a brand new Marlin 1895MXLR for my birthday. I received it Saturday, and headed to the range on Sunday for a day of shooting. Same thing happened to me it wont chamber a round. I drove myself and the gun back to Gander MTN as fast as I could. Gander said they couldn't help me it had to be shipped back to Marlin. I was definitely seeing red. I left Gander and called Marlin on Monday morning. I spoke with Tim Looney, and explained that I can not wait 6 - 8 weeks for this thing to come back as I have a hunt scheduled around this gun. He called Gander to make sure they were shipping it back to them (Marlin) and promptly called me back. He said "as we are speaking your new gun is being test fired and sighted in" he then stated that it should be ready for pickup at Gander later this week. For my trouble he said he would ship me some free ammo.

I dont know what to think, I just dont see how a company that claims to test fire and sight every gun in can let a bad one out the door, at least not one that wont even chamber a round. I believe that if you spend as much as they command for them they should be 100% walking out there door. Oh Tim did state that if it had been an 1895 chambered in 45/70 he would understand being that this is an ever increasing problem for them.

[35Rem]

is it possible that there is/was some factory oil/grease under the extractor that had dried and became sticky, causing the extractor not to open enough? I really don't know, just a through, as both guns were new.
Did the bolt get a good cleaning before trying to use?

[Virginiajoe]

I did a full cleaning on my 450 before going to the range. The Gunsmith at Gander said there was a nasty bur that was catching the brass preventing the rounds from cambering. I should be getting my replacement today, yesterday I received two cases of Hornady ammo compliments of Marlin. They are trying and I guess that's all you can ask for.

[Bitterroot Bob]

Howdy,
I'm in the same boat. I finally heard back from Marlin about my 1894FG. The darned thing will NOT shoot 210 grain bullets with any accuracy, while it shoots 170's just fine. They want me to send it back.
I asked why. Are they going to install a barrel with a faster twist? Nope, they just want it back.
Did your guy ask you to send some ammo for testing?

Bitterroot

[Virginiajoe]

They didn't ask me for ammo, they just replaced the gun. Fast to I returned it to Gander last Sunday and got the new one Friday. The new one they sent me also jammed up, I'm vary disapointed with Marlin. Instead of retuning this one I completly disassembled it and did all of Marlins finish work for them. I filed down the burs and polished it all up nice. I took it to the range today, and it was flawles. No jams straight shooter. I nailed a Redbull can at 100 yards with open sights one shot. This gun rocks, dispite Marlin's lack of attention to detail they make a good gun. Cant wait to go Boar hunting in august.