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booker_t · December 14, 2009, 07:59 PM

Hey all, any advice on how to solve this little feeding problem would be greatly appreciated.

So I've had this Marlin rifle for a while, it's pretty slick, stainless bull barrel, .22WMR and has great accuracy out to 150yd or even a bit more. Unfortunately, the 14round tube magazine has been failing to feed. I pulled the thing apart and this is what I found.

Basically, the screw that holds the feeding mechanism to the underside of the barrel is made of stronger material than the barrel, and has stripped the threads in the barrel, while only slightly marring the threads on the screw. It may be that the previous owner of the rifle tried to rebuild this thing and over-torqued the screw, which started the thread-stripping process.

The result is the entire assembly isn't secure to the barrel, so the spring has nothing to act against (it's supposed to seat into that circular divot on the barrel) and apply force to the feeding arm, as I'm sure the vast majority of people who read this are fully aware. Here's a few more photos to clarify:

Detail of the feeder assembly:

Overview of the construction:

Barrel detail:

At first I tried thread locker, red locktite, and that didn't help, mainly because there are no threads in the barrel left to lock.

Second, I tried a little dab of JB Weld on the screw and the hole (formerly threaded hole) in the barrel. I was really hoping that would make a quick easy fix, clamped the entire thing with some zip ties and let it set for about 18 hours, well it didn't work. It might be that the JB I used as old, it seemed gummy, so I might try that again.

Other options I've considered are re-tapping the barrel, and getting a new, fatter screw, which is probably the "right" way to do it, but I only paid $150 for the rifle so cheap & dirty fixes are still on the table. Final option would be to just clamp it down and fill that little hole with my TIG welder, use some 100mph tape and a wooden dowel rod in place of the bolt to keep slag from getting in the barrel.

Any other suggestions? If I were to get a larger screw and tap out the barrel, is there a recommended thread size, or will any machine screw do? The existing one seems to be a coarse machine thread.

Thanks!

PS Apologies for the large photos, wasn't able to embed HTML, maybe it's disabled on this forum? Either way.. if you need additional photos to diagnose I can provide.

December 14, 2009, 07:59 PM	#1
booker_t Senior Member Join Date: July 21, 2009 Posts: 797	Marlin .22WMR Rifle Fails to Feed (Pics) Hey all, any advice on how to solve this little feeding problem would be greatly appreciated. So I've had this Marlin rifle for a while, it's pretty slick, stainless bull barrel, .22WMR and has great accuracy out to 150yd or even a bit more. Unfortunately, the 14round tube magazine has been failing to feed. I pulled the thing apart and this is what I found. Basically, the screw that holds the feeding mechanism to the underside of the barrel is made of stronger material than the barrel, and has stripped the threads in the barrel, while only slightly marring the threads on the screw. It may be that the previous owner of the rifle tried to rebuild this thing and over-torqued the screw, which started the thread-stripping process. The result is the entire assembly isn't secure to the barrel, so the spring has nothing to act against (it's supposed to seat into that circular divot on the barrel) and apply force to the feeding arm, as I'm sure the vast majority of people who read this are fully aware. Here's a few more photos to clarify: Detail of the feeder assembly: Overview of the construction: Barrel detail: At first I tried thread locker, red locktite, and that didn't help, mainly because there are no threads in the barrel left to lock. Second, I tried a little dab of JB Weld on the screw and the hole (formerly threaded hole) in the barrel. I was really hoping that would make a quick easy fix, clamped the entire thing with some zip ties and let it set for about 18 hours, well it didn't work. It might be that the JB I used as old, it seemed gummy, so I might try that again. Other options I've considered are re-tapping the barrel, and getting a new, fatter screw, which is probably the "right" way to do it, but I only paid $150 for the rifle so cheap & dirty fixes are still on the table. Final option would be to just clamp it down and fill that little hole with my TIG welder, use some 100mph tape and a wooden dowel rod in place of the bolt to keep slag from getting in the barrel. Any other suggestions? If I were to get a larger screw and tap out the barrel, is there a recommended thread size, or will any machine screw do? The existing one seems to be a coarse machine thread. Thanks! PS Apologies for the large photos, wasn't able to embed HTML, maybe it's disabled on this forum? Either way.. if you need additional photos to diagnose I can provide.