Lever action cycling

The father of my best friend once told me that every man should have three things in his life to give him the red-ass. A wife, a Dodge truck and a Winchester rifle. He was referring, of course, to the lever action Winchester Model 94.

The lever action is a mechanical device and it's intended to be operated robustly. Whether in the old Model 94, or the Rossi, or the Puma, or the Marlin variety, trying to operate it slowly, cycle it gently, is a recipe for disaster. The latest iteration of the question is over at the High Road.org, where a forum member makes the following observation:

I have a Rossi 92 that likes to let the 38 rounds stand up and not feed into the barrel sometimes. I think that is mostly when I try to cycle it slowly.

There's the glitch. Cycling it slowly.

I've owned lever actions from both Marlin, Mossberg, and Winchester. I like them all. But, they like to be cycled firmly.

The Marlin 1894 series are susceptible to something known as the Marlin Jam. This is a design flaw in those particular rifles where lever has a little cam that bounces against the carrier. That cam is left with a sharp edge at the factory and over time, it cuts a groove in the carrier. The fix is simple, easy and effective. Remove the lever and with a file or stone, relieve that sharp edge. Round it off a little. Not much, just a little. The link above will show how it's done.

But, for the vast majority of feeding problems with a lever action rifle, the main cause is trying to be gentle with them. Operate the lever robustly, with vigor. You're not going to break it. Crank it forward till it stops, then bring it smartly to the rear and your feeding problems will take care of themselves.

I'm glad we cleared that up.