Crazy Friday night in my gun room

[Geezerbiker]

I need to vent a bit after completing a bear of a cleaning project...

A friend of the family gave my twin grandsons each a Marlin 99 .22 semiauto rifles. Both of the rifles were so crudded up that neither of them would function when we went out to shoot them. I had other rifles for the boys to shoot so I figured I'd take them apart and clean them before the boys came back for their next visit.

The first one wasn't much trouble so I figured another 15 minutes and I'd be done. As I was putting the trigger group back in the second rifle, it fell apart in my hand. After an hour of futzing with it, I figured my only hope was to look at the other rifle. I wasn't sure I wanted to do this as I didn't need 2 rifles that I didn't know how to put back together....

Anyway there are 4 little E-clips that hold the trigger group together and all 4 were missing from the second rifle. Now I knew where the last couple of bits went, it was another hour of futzing with it to get it back together and functioning. I was able to manually cycle 5 rounds though it and at that point I didn't care if I ever saw it again.

At one point I was so frustrated that I was ready to toss them in the trash and go buy a couple 10/.22s...

Anyway I'm not touching it again until I can find some of those tiny e-Clips.

Sorry for the rant...

Tony

[ligonierbill]

The joys of old guns. Your rant is much more civilized than mine,though. But you'll get them squared away and be glad of it.

[SIGSHR]

IMHO use of cleaning sprays and a good-say 1 hour-soaking-that's my SOP. But I admire your thoroughness.

[JohnKSa]

...those tiny e-Clips...

That's not what I call them.

Is this what you're looking for?

https://www.brownells.com/rifle-part...l_1=Marlin__99

[Scorch]

Over the years I have had customers bring them in in plastic bags, shoe boxes, lunch boxes, and one just threw the trigger group away after it self-disassembled. The old model 99s, 75s, and 60s were apt to do just that and people would actually cry over it! Good job gettin it back together!

[kenny53]

I hope the boys didn't learn any new words. I think with the link JpohKSa gave, you will have a good training tool for your sons. Best of luck to you.

[Geezerbiker]

I can't believe Brownells is charging almost 8 bucks a pop for those clips. For that price I should be able to buy a 1000 of them if I knew the size info to tell my fastener supplier.

Fortunately these guns belong to my grandsons and they're far enough away I'd have to call their cell phones to let them know of my problems. I'll wait and tell them when the come out to visit next time.

What I did with the first rifle (the one that's not missing the clips) was to flush out the trigger group with Ed's Red home mix gun cleaner. I also scrubbed out the receiver and cleaned the bore.

Since I had no intention of taking the trigger group apart, I didn't notice that it was missing any of it's fasteners. I was stunned when the trigger group fell apart in my hand. My worst fear was if I pulled the trigger group out of the first rifle, it might to the same but it didn't take long to notice that the clips were there on that one.

I looked at a couple model 60 videos on YouTube but they were of little help. I finally pulled apart the first rifle and it got me the rest of the way there on how to put it back together. The real bear was getting the hammer spring back in.

I was a motorcycle mechanic in my wayward youth so I'm no stranger to mechanical devices. This one almost had me but I was too PO'ed to let it beat me.

Tony

[Unclenick]

The way to check the e-clips is to pull one of the ones you have and measure its thickness and OD and then use a numbered drill set or a small pin gauge set to find the smallest diameter that just barely slips into the clip center without spreading it (slight rubbing is OK). Measure the actual OD of that drill (pin gauges will have an accurate number). On this chart, those dimensions are t,D, and C, respectively, on the left image. Use them to look up the size on the table below the diagrams and go shopping.

[JohnKSa]

I can't believe Brownells is charging almost 8 bucks a pop for those clips. For that price I should be able to buy a 1000 of them if I knew the size info to tell my fastener supplier.

This kind of thing is a common problem. Selling cheap items in small quantities for their actual value is a losing proposition. You can't pay to stock them, package them, invoice and ship them and still make money unless you charge far more than their intrinsic value.

So, as you say, the price ends up being hugely inflated. HOWEVER, the convenience of being able to order one or two instead of a thousand of them and knowing that you're going to get the right size makes the inflated price worth it for most consumers.

That said, IMO, Brownells should probably sell those in 5 packs for about the same price, rather than one at a time. That might take some of the sting out of the price and, it's not a stretch to think that someone who needs one might need another one, if not now, at least at some time in the future.

[Geezerbiker]

Originally Posted by Unclenick

The way to check the e-clips is to pull one of the ones you have and measure its thickness and OD and then use a numbered drill set or a small pin gauge set to find the smallest diameter that just barely slips into the clip center without spreading it (slight rubbing is OK). Measure the actual OD of that drill (pin gauges will have an accurate number). On this chart, those dimensions are t,D, and C, respectively, on the left image. Use them to look up the size on the table below the diagrams and go shopping.

That's a great idea. I don't mind buying however many I need to make a minimum order. There's no way I'm going to pay 36 bucks for 4 tiny clips...

Tony

[Remington74]

I looked at Numrich gun parts and for the model 99 they did not list a lot of parts.

Then I checked the schematic for the early model 60 and they have them in the trigger assembly parts for $3.50 each.

I don't know if that is a price you'd go for but they are there.

Have you tried the local hardware stores? I know Ace has a lot of small parts like that, maybe Lowes or Home Depot might also.

[dahermit]

Harbor Freight tools has an assortment of e-clips.
https://www.harborfreight.com/search...p%20assortment

[Pathfinder45]

I got mine at my local Ace hardware. Those are actually pretty darn good rifles and not hard to work on once you come to understand them. I can think of worse projects; the honey-do list is full of them.

[Geezerbiker]

The Wilco farm store has a pretty good selection of hardware and there's usually someone to help find stuff. I plan to go to town later this week. I'll pop one of the clips off the first rifle and take it with me to see if I can match it up. I'll probably buy a dozen of them so I don't ever have this problem down the road...

Tony

[Clemson]

I get a fair number of Marlin autos in the shop. I have to give the same lecture to every owner: "It is not unusual to put enough parts and labor into one of these guns that you could go to Walmart and buy and brand new one!" Also, beware of spraying that trigger assembly with Brakleen. There is a plastic buffer in there that does not like tetrachloroethylene.

Bill Jacobs

[Unclenick]

You can get a dozen 1/8" e-clips on eBay for $2.49 + postage. Other sizes, too. Just check what size you need and if it is fractional, there are lots. For $10 you can get a 300 piece fractional size selection (don't even need number drills to size those) on Amazon with Prime shipping.