It had been giving us feeding problems for several years. I had tried different carriers and thought I found one that worked. But no, it still would not feed correctly and it would do the Dreaded Marlin Jam.

I asked Steve Young about it and he told me to take the lower tang/trigger guard off and look at the inside where the small portion of the carrier sticks through. I pulled the gun apart and discovered this.

You can see where the carrier has pounded divots into the body on each side of the opening.

I asked Steve what he did to fix that. He said there are several ways to fix it. What he does is heat the carrier and bend it about .020" or .025". That is beyond my pay grade. Another option is to replace the lower tang/trigger guard. I asked, "Why not shim it?" and he said that would work. So I cut the end off a .020" blade on the feeler gauge and glued it to the carrier.

That did the trick!

Now this was back in August of 2024. A couple days ago I was at the Range, shooting the Carbine and it locked up on me. At home I discovered that the glue on the shim had given out, the shim came loose and was wedged tightly between the carrier and the receiver.

I got it apart and searched the internet and found a used lower tang/trigger guard for a decent price and bought it. When it arrived I cleaned it up and installed it and the Marlin is back in business!

Two things I should have done differently with the shim.

1) - I should have used JB Weld or epoxy
2) - I should have fastened it to the lower tang/trigger guard instead of the carrier

Live and Learn!

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Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.

I have t shot my ‘new’ 45 Marlin enough to experience this. It looks like a wear Saume the divots are letting the carrier drop down too far? Looks like it could be welded up and brought back to the original elevation to clean it up. Attaching the shim to the non moving tang does seem like a good idea and JB Weld is some good stuff! I used to joke you could glue two ice cubes together in the middle of summer with JB Weld!

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https://facebook.com/M2bKydex/

he has been shooting it in competition since then and has never had a problem. Looking online for a lower tang I found new ones for $130.00 or so. Looking on Ebay I found a used one for $35 which was more to my liking. And he had photos of the inside of it and it was not marked. I got it, cleaned it up and it is working fine.

--
Ele era velho.
Ele era corajoso.
Ele era feio.