Repairing a Marlin 1897 in .22

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Tank
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Repairing a Marlin 1897 in .22

Post by Tank » Sat Apr 11, 2020 7:45 pm

So, I came across this lovely unmolested Marlin 1897 in .22 rimfire, it is totally unspoilt and original. However, as is always the case there was a snag, no magazine cutoff. This is a small spring steel inset that controls the cartridge feed from the tubular magazine and stops the mag just dumping it's contents when you lower the lever to cock the rifle.
Now, this part is available from Brownells and I could have just ordered one, but where is the fun in that? Besides, I had another, similar rifle so I could just copy from that, right?
So here is the part, made from annealed spring steel stock. I arrived at the final shape using files and a scraper:
MARL01.jpg
Here you can see, at the top of the picture, the fixture I made to hold the part as I machined it on the manual Mill:
MARL02.jpg
This is the part I copied:
MARL03.jpg
So, now it will be obvious to you that it needs heat treating, that is hardening and then tempering. Well it just so happens I know a man. So first the part was hardened and then placed into this very old, very large and very accurate tempering furnace:
MARL04.jpg
We had to fasten the part using a piece of iron wire to the smallest basket we could find, which is so huge you can't actually see it.
MARL05.jpg
Here we are setting the control to temperature.
MARL06.jpg
The final stage, checking the actual hardness. Interestingly, during the second World War a good many of these hardness testers were sent to machine shops around the country doing "War Work" and I would bet that a good number were scrapped, unused. Shame really because they are incredibly accurate:
MARL07.jpg
And here we are, a few gratuitous shots of the part fitted up (yes I had to make a screw too) and the breech assembled:
MARL08.jpg
MARL09.jpg
MARL10.jpg
This is a bit of a keeper as it was manufactured in 1907 and I have a few guns from the 1900 to 1920 period and it fits into my collection nicely, shoots well too which is always a bonus.
graham.
I’m going off to go find myself. If I’m not back by the time I return, keep me here.
https://tamesidepistol.club/

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