I got in a severely dirty Marlin 444 that was jamming up. I shoveled out the packed debris and polished and deburred it to perfection.
Deburring took about 2 hours. Still no need for replacement parts – its all in rather good condition.
I’ve reassembled it and in bench testing it with new fresh ammo it still does a half feed malfunction 1/2 way along the carrier.
It does this if I work the finger lever gently. If I aggressively cycle the action it feeds perfectly. I admit I have not fired it yet.
Is the fix for this a stronger magazine spring? The mag spring now seems to be at normal strength.
The owner is an old guy with weak hands. So making the Mag spring stronger will make it difficult to load, but might make the feed action onto the carrier more aggressive and positive.
I could tell him that it is working normally, simply operate the finger lever fairly aggressively. Am I off base on my diagnosis?
Do any of you guys have experience with the quirks of the 444 Marlin? Roy
The Marlin lever actions are pretty much the same no matter what caliber, and none of them were meant to work when babied. Stretching the magazine spring wouldn’t be a bad idea, though I’m not entirely sure what you mean by a “half feed malfunction.” Does the cartridge simply stop moving when it’s part way onto the carrier? Not hanging up on anything? Cartridge stops working fine? No tension on the cartridge when it stops? How gentle is gentle? It really should feed when cycled slowly, I would think. More detail might help. Jeff
Answer
Like the previous post explain the jam a bit more if you would please. The gun should feed when the action is worked slowly as well as fast.
It sounds like the shell is binding on the carrier from time to time as the carrier rises but would like more info on the jam. Ken
Question Follow Up
The strange jam up is that the cartridge glides back with one half of its’ length on the carrier and 1/2 still in the mag tube. And at this position the carrier seems to rise a tiny bit and the entire action locks up biting against the cartridge case. To clear the jam I need to remove the mag tube front cap and relieve the spring pressure and the cartridge falls out the front of the mag tube behind the follower. I’m using new Hornady Leverevolution ballistic tip ammo.
On the carrier is a “Cartridge Leveler” that is cutting a full length gouge into the brass case and apparently slowing down the feed. I had the notion of filing a divot straight down the center of the cartridge leveler, perfectly down its’ center, so that the brass would not drag across it, which I surmise is hindering the cartridge getting onto the carrier quickly and completely. Is this a potential fix, or am I going brain dead?
The front of the carrier is the cartridge stop, and apparently there is no way to adjust it.
I believe the good folks at Marlin know what they are doing when they installed this cartridge leveler. So, why would it do something so obviously dumb as gouging the brass case while feeding a round?
I just received a new mag spring and follower from Jack First, so I will install and get back to you guys.
Should I modify the cartridge leveler to stop the feeding malfunction, or am I barking up the wrong tree? Thanks guys! Ya’ll are heros!! Roy
Answer
Sounds as though the carrier is rising too fast and too far. It is the cartridge stop like you mention but should rise and come to a stop allowing the shell onto the carrier fully while keeping the rest of the shells in the magazine tube. Then when the lever is closed the carrier should rise again and feed the shell into the chamber while holding the rest of the shells in the magazine tube. I am not familiar with the new “leveler” but it could be causing issues as well. Let us know what you find. Ken
Reply
I solved the problem. I cycled fresh new rounds through the feed process as single loads and studied where the gouges and scratches were located in relation to the cartridge leveler.
The front and back edges of the leveler were BOTH biting and scratching the cases and creating a slowdown of the feed so the carrier would rise very slightly and bite against the cartridge.
The solution: remove the carrier assembly and chamfer both the front and rear edges so smooth and slightly recessed edges would not bite into the cartridge.
It cycled reliably with slight linear scratching, but still the scratches bothered me some.
I could not alter the leveler any more. But then it hit me, as I agonized over this silly little pop gun. I removed the carrier again and rounded over the chamfers so the edges are like a 1/4 hemisphere, just a scant little bit of polishing with emery paper, buffed with Mothers Mag Polish, and now it is smooth and pleasant to cycle without all the scratching.
My failure to diagnose was based on an assumption that the manufacturer, Marlin, could do no wrong.
I assumed it was a perfect rifle when it was bought back in 1966. But, apparently this problem plagued this rifle over its’ entire life. Such a small imperfection caused a continuous and serious malfunction which took until 2016 to correct. This realization knocks the wind outta me.
It sure is fun to shoot. It hits like a wrecking ball!!
