[Scott L. Holden]

Hello and thank you for accepting me into the Marlin Forum. My Dad passed away last November and I was given his old Marlin 1894 that was made back in 1901. My brother was charged with dividing up Dad's guns and I was given the non-working model 1894 chambered in the 38-40 while he kept the functioning 1893C for himself.

The action works fine on the gun, but the hammer is stuck in the cocked position and will not budge. I am hoping to find a gunsmith who may have fixed a problem like this. It is my dream to get this fun fixed and go out and shoot it in honor of my beloved father. We grew up pretty poor and my uncle collected old Winchesters. The best Dad could do was a couple of older Marlins and this gun means the world to me.

Thank you for any help you folks can provide.

Sincerely,

Scott

 

[joe45c]

Scott i have the same Marlin as you and in the same caliber. It is one of the easiest of my guns to dissemble. I think there a a couple of good utube videos out there that can help you through the process. As far as your hammer it could be the sear that part of the trigger that is keeping your hammer locked in the full cocked position. Once you get it apart you should be able to see the problem. Should be a easy fix.

 

[Scott L. Holden]

Scott i have the same Marlin as you and in the same caliber. It is one of the easiest of my guns to dissemble. I think there a a couple of good utube videos out there that can help you through the process. As far as your hammer it could be the sear that part of the trigger that is keeping your hammer locked in the full cocked position. Once you get it apart you should be able to see the problem. Should be a easy fix.

Joe, thank you so much for the help. You have given me hope that someday I can get Dad’s Marlin up and running.

 

[Scott L. Holden]

Joe, thank you so much for the help. You have given me hope that someday I can get Dad’s Marlin up and running.

 

[Scott L. Holden]

Joe, thank you so much for the help. You have given me hope that someday I can get Dad’s Marlin up and running.

 

[joe45c]

No problem Scott. I'm sure if you get it apart you'll see the problem right off. One thing if you do decide to take it apart get yourself some gunsmith screw drivers. They will help protect your gun screw heads. Looks like the small screw on your receiver that holds your loading port latch where you load your bullets is pretty chewed up. Luckily you don't have to take that one out to find out what your problem is. Have you tried gently pushing down on the hammer while pulling the trigger?

 

[joe45c]

One more thing you could try without taking the whole gun apart is to take the butt stock off. Only 1 screw holds it on. Take out that screw and pull the stock off and you might be able to see what's going on with your hammer.

 

[Goldtrigger]

No problem Scott. I'm sure if you get it apart you'll see the problem right off. One thing if you do decide to take it apart get yourself some gunsmith screw drivers. They will help protect your gun screw heads. Looks like the small screw on your receiver that holds your loading port latch where you load your bullets is pretty chewed up. Luckily you don't have to take that one out to find out what your problem is. Have you tried gently pushing down on the hammer while pulling the trigger?

Looks like somebody went after that one with a jack hammer.

 

[sholden]

I just tried your suggestion and the hammer did release, however, there is no resistance on the hammer. I can easily pull it back and when I do, the trigger also moves back. This makes me think a spring must have broken.

 

[joe45c]

I just tried your suggestion and the hammer did release, however, there is no resistance on the hammer. I can easily pull it back and when I do, the trigger also moves back. This makes me think a spring must have broken.

Like yours mine has a flat spring. Just remove your butt stock. Only 1 screw holds the stock on and you'll be able to see your spring. They are pretty stoutly made springs so it may not have broken. It may have just came out of contact with the hammer.

 

[sholden]

I will give that a try! Thank you so much!

 

[sholden]

The gun I have was made back in 1901 and instead of having 1 screw attaching the receiver to the stock, mine has 3 screws. They are on so tight I can not remove them. Looks like this will have to go in to the Gunsmith for repair. Thank you to everyone for their help on this.

 

[joe45c]

The gun I have was made back in 1901 and instead of having 1 screw attaching the receiver to the stock, mine has 3 screws. They are on so tight I can not remove them. Looks like this will have to go in to the Gunsmith for repair. Thank you to everyone for their help on this.

I think without seeing pics of yours, but 2 of the screws the smaller ones don't hold the stock on. They are filler screws to mount a tang sight. The bigger one is the one that holds the stock on. That's how mine is anyways. I think most are the same, but if you can't turn that bigger screw than you are probably better off letting a smith look at it for you. Good luck joe

 

[Scott L. Holden]

Thank you, Joe. Off to look and see if I can order some parts online to perhaps save the Gunsmith some time. haha. I have it in my head that the spring needs to be replaced on the Hammer strut or perhaps there is a problem with the Hammer Spring adjustment plate. I also need to replace one of the three screws on the right side of the receiver. The smallest screw near the loading door is messed up. Once again, I will need help from a Gunsmith to get that out as someone totally destroyed it. haha

 

[joe45c]

That little screw that's messed up holds your loading latch on. It may not look like it does cause it's so far back, but the loading latch has a long flat spring that goes back to that screw. I have only had mine out once. As far as the hammer spring it's only held on by 1 screw that's screwed into the bottom tang. It's tricky to loosen because the top and bottom tang make it hard to get a screw driver on it. I use a offset screw driver. the flat blade is bent at a 45 degrees. I just loosen it a little and pivot it off the back of the hammer. Takes all the pressure off the hammer. These guns are really easy to take apart No coil springs to go flying everywhere.

 

[Scott L. Holden]

That little screw that's messed up holds your loading latch on. It may not look like it does cause it's so far back, but the loading latch has a long flat spring that goes back to that screw. I have only had mine out once. As far as the hammer spring it's only held on by 1 screw that's screwed into the bottom tang. It's tricky to loosen because the top and bottom tang make it hard to get a screw driver on it. I use a offset screw driver. the flat blade is bent at a 45 degrees. I just loosen it a little and pivot it off the back of the hammer. Takes all the pressure off the hammer. These guns are really easy to take apart No coil springs to go flying everywhere.

 

[Scott L. Holden]

Good to know, Joe. I think I will take this one into the Gunsmith as I sure do not want to mess anything up. My Dad loved this gun and although he never shot it, he always speculated about the number of notches cut into the bottom of the stock. My Dad was pretty old school, just like my Grandpa was. I can remember Grandpa telling me that if a guy could not drop 20 deer off a box of shells, he should not be out hunting! haha. Grandpa was an amazing shot. Dad gave me Grandpa's 1899 Savage that he killed 87 deer with. (This was his second Savage. He killed another 78 deer with that rifle.) The man could take a cigarette paper and nail it to a fence post and shooting openhanded at 100 yards, with iron sights, could split the cigarette paper in half. haha I hope that once I get Dad's old Marlin up and running, God will let him look down upon me and my son as we remember him and Grandpa with a smile instead of a tear. Thank you so much for the information on this special holiday. God bless you, my friend. Sincerely, Scott

 

[joe45c]

Hope you get it up and running. Take some pics when you get it to the range.