failure to feed; Marlin 30-30

[riverratt]

My Dad recently handed me down his marlin 30-30. This thing has a lot of sentimental value to me as some of my most memorable childhood moments occurred with this gun in hand.

Anyway, I tried loading some dummy rounds up to find what COAL the gun liked to feed. I started on the long side and worked down until it fed. The problem is it never would feed. In order to get the "lifter plate?" To come all the way up I had to turn the gun on its side and shake a bit.

When I talked to Dad last he said that it started doing that when he was checking zero a couple years ago. Now his philosophy on cleaning guns is "just wipe her down with some WD-40 and put her up". So I figured that its just a gummed up action. I plan on completely disassembling the action and doing a thorough cleaning. I would like to know if there's anything specific to look for or just replace wile I'm in there?

[FrankenMauser]

There is a cam on the finger lever (action lever) near the pivot point. Look for excessive wear or modification.
There is a gradient surface (decreasing radius curve) on the bottom of the cartridge lifter, on the front, bottom surface of the lobe on the bottom of the lifter. Look for excessive wear or modification.
Also make sure that the toggle lever on the lifter (left side, rear) moves freely. There's a stiff spring in there, so it's not going to be easy to move, but it shouldn't be binding. If the lifter can't get over the hook on the toggler lever, the lifter can't come up all the way.

Also check the cartridge lifter for straightness, and make sure that the gate screw is nice and snug (not tight, you'll strip or shear it). The gate screw is the tiny little guy directly behind the loading port on the right side of the receiver.

While you have the rifle apart, be sure to thoroughly clean the magazine tube, spring, and follower.

I should have a spare lifter and finger lever here, somewhere. I'll try to get a picture and edit this post to add it. (Done, obviously.)


Blue arrow indicates the cam on the finger lever.
Yellow lever indicates the gradient surface that it engages on the lifter.
Note the groove/notch running across the engagement surface on this lifter ... that's bad (but causes the action to be "hitchy" or "catchy", not to fail to feed).


A view of the engagement surfaces.
Again, blue for the cam, yellow for the engagement surface.
This lever had approximately 700-1,000 rounds on it, but you'll note that it hasn't even worn through the bluing. That's great.
The lack of a wear groove on the lifter is also good, but, again, the perpendicular grooves are bad.
The toggle lever is seen on the left side of the lifter in this image. The hook, however, is in a shadow, and difficult to see. The hook is where you want to press to check for smooth operation.

[hdbiker]

I learned long ago to never leave WD 40 in the action of my Ruger Mk 1 target pistol.In just a few weeks it turns to a carmal colored varnish,and gum's up the works. hdbiker

[FrankenMauser]

Yep.
WD-40 is a water displacement compound, not a lubricant.