MARLIN 39A FAILURE TO FEED

Question

I am working on a Marlin .22 Model 39A that will not feed a round up from the tube and into the chamber. There is no way to see what is going on when the receiver is together but apart, everything seems to be in working order. The rounds feed out of the tube just fine. The primary and secondary stops appear to work okay when the receiver is apart. The bolt seems to be going forward far enough to release the round from the tube. I applied Lipstick to the base of a round and worked the action and the lipstick transferred to the face of the elevator/lifter just below the feed ramp and just barely onto the feed ramp. It almost appears that the Feed Ramp is not coming down low enough for the round to jump onto it so it can feed up? But why would this all of a sudden occur? Nothing is binding and there does not seem to be enough wear to have caused this?

Should I grind down the bottom of the lifter/elevator so it will go lower allowing the round to pass onto the feed ramp or am I overlooking something???

I appreciate any and all tips/advice.

Answer

Before you alter any parts, load it like you described and then open the lever/bolt and see if you can push the carrier down to allow the shell in the magazine to come back onto the carrier. The bolt being closed should have turned off the cartridge stop so that shell should be beside it and not in front of it. If the carrier can be pushed down that little bit and the shell will then feed you will want to make the carrier go lower…..but don’t grind off the carrier to allow the shells to come onto it. Go slow and watch everything. Ken

Reply

Thanks Ken, I appreciate it and I checked it as you described. Turns out that the carrier was not going all the way down because the lever action itself was just slightly (and I do mean slightly) bent restricting how low the carrier would go. I got it all straightened out and working like a champ now with a very satisfied customer to boot!