This rifle was brought in by a customer, stating that when the magazine tube is loaded with factory 30-30 load, 150 grain cartridges. He cannot get the cartridge to carry-up into the chamber most of the time.
The rifle appears to be in very good shape. The cartridge carrier appears to work when I use the lever. I loaded the magazine tube with 4 dummy cartridges. I lowered the lever action to see how the carrier and the cartridge worked. The cartridge came out of the magazine onto the carrier with no problem. As I closed the lever I noticed the end of the bullet would drag hard against the frame, between the magazine tube and chamber, and stopped loading just before going into the chamber mouth. If I hold the barrel up high at about 35 to a 45 degree, it loads almost every time. I checked the carrier surface and all looked smooth. I checked the cartridge follower and magazine spring. The spring was straight and the follower looked good a round.
The spring appears to be very strong while in the magazine tube. The follower while loading from the magazine tube drops below the magazine tube opening. It does not interfere with the loading onto the carrier. My next step is to polish the surface between the magazine tube, frame and the lower portion of the chamber to give it a smoother transition. Is there any other thing I could do?
Sounds as though there could be a couple of issues. Since the nose of the bullet drags against the frame it is being held too far forward on the carrier. Why? Who knows you will have to check that out. Then as far as feeding into the chamber it sounds like the carrier doesn’t rise high enough for the shell to easily enter the chamber. Make sure it can move high enough, make sure it is raised high enough before it is forced down. Also make sure the chamber mouth is smooth and polished. Ken
