Broken ejector and extractor

[Centaur 1]

Long story short, I have a Rio Grande and both the ejector and extractor broke. I discovered them while cleaning my 30-30's. I had two small boxes on my bench that contained the lever and screw, bolt and ejector from the Rio Grande in one box and the same parts from my 336 in the other. Even though these two rifles look alike, it doesn't take long to realize that Rossi copied the design, but they didn't use Marlin's blueprints when making the Rio Grande.

I couldn't help but notice the similarity between the parts that I had in the two boxes. So I grabbed my calipers and started taking measurements. Starting with the ejector, both were the same thickness and the round nib that fits through the hole in the left side of the action was the same diameter. Trying just one thing at a time I put the Marlin ejector in the Rossi and reassembled the gun and it cycled smoothly. Next I measured the bolts, the diameter of the Rossi was .010" larger than the Marlin but everything else was the same size. At this point I put the Marlin's bolt into the Rossi, just to see if it would fit. Everything not only went together, but it cycled the three dummy rounds that I made for testing purposes. Now I would never fire the gun like this, I just found it interesting that everything fit together.

I broke the rifle back down and removed the extractors from the two bolts. First thing I noticed was that the Rossi extractor was much easier to remove than the Marlin. Upon measuring the only difference between the two parts is that Marlin uses steel that is thicker, Marlin is .038" versus .034" for the Rossi. When I measured the diameter of the groove that the extractors snap into, both rifles were the exact same dimension. To finish up my little experiment, I reassembled my Rio Grande using the extractor and ejector from my Marlin and the rifle functions smoothly and cycles ammo.

With all the horror stories about Rossi's customer service, and the fact that I've had my Rossi over a year, I went on Midway USA's website and ordered the Marlin parts to put in my Rossi. I know that I have a tendency to be long winded, and sorry for such a long post. I just thought this would be good information to have the next time one of these parts break, and Rossi wants you to spend $50 on shipping to send your rifle back to replace a $12 part.

[Ranch Dog]

Always good to know. You can actually buy the parts from Rossi without sending the rifle back. The advantage of buying it through a source like MidwayUSA is obvious, it is quick and without voice contact. I bought a bunch of misc. parts on Tuesday, agent was happy that stuff is flowing and said that online parts are coming.

I now have a great inventory of Rio Grande and R92 parts, pretty much anything that would wear, break, or would be replaced as part of routine maintenance.

RG_extractor.jpg

Two weeks ago I tried to order a trigger guard for the Single Shot but it restricted. Pretty much everything on the rifle was restricted. I found a complete set of parts from a parted out Single Shot on the same day, cheap, so I bought them. On the call Tuesday, I was able to buy a synthetic stock for the Single Shot which I could not do two weeks ago. I still think things are changing for the better at Rossi.

[Centaur 1]

I saw where Rossi was trying to improve this aspect of customer service, I just wasn't sure where they were at. I have to admit that it really tweaks me the wrong way when something breaks just out of warranty and they want to charge me for a new part. Granted these are the two most likely parts to fail, but I don't think it would be unreasonable to expect more than a one year warranty. I also read the post from Rossi's CEO where he was complaining about getting the proper parts shipped from Brazil. It made me wonder if they can't figure out how to ship the right part, how good is the quality control in the heat treatment department. It's been my experience as a retired tool and die maker that most manufacturing companies either choose to hire talented workers and pay them what they're worth, or just hire cheap labor and push them to work faster.

When I was doing my side by side comparison I was impressed with how much stronger the Marlin extractor was. That coupled with the fact that I've never broken a Marlin ejector, made me decide to buy Marlin replacement parts. The fact that the parts are interchangeable might come in handy one day for some of our members. If you're out of state on a hunting trip and one of these parts break, a local gunsmith is more likely to have the Marlin parts in stock.

[joec]

Now my question is pretty simple I think, would the Marlin 336 parts work on a Rossi 45-70 such as the extractor etc, or are they different?

[Ranch Dog]

Now my question is pretty simple I think, would the Marlin 336 parts work on a Rossi 45-70 such as the extractor etc, or are they different?

When I ordered the parts from Rossi, they were a common part across the three chamberings.

[Centaur 1]

There's one other thing I noticed while comparing rifles. The ramp that's cut in the side of the barrel that the extractor rides up on when the action is closed. The cut on my Rossi is not as deep as my Marlin, this prevents the extractor from being able to grab as much of the cartridge rim when the action is first opened. Once the brass starts to move rearward the claw is able to fully grab the rim. It doesn't seem to matter much if everything is working in harmony, but if the brass sticks in the chamber at all, the extractor can jump off the cartridge rim leaving the case stuck in the chamber. I think that I'm going to slowly change the angle so the claw can get a better grip on the cartridge. Has anyone else seen this with any of their lever guns?

[Ranch Dog]

I think that I'm going to slowly change the angle so the claw can get a better grip on the cartridge. Has anyone else seen this with any of their lever guns?

I haven't noticed it but will look at it as well on my three rifles. Probably will not take much to correct with a file.

[Centaur 1]

Looking from the rear, the chamber is a round hole. For lack of a better word I'll call it the extractor ramp, is at the 3 o'clock position and it creates a vertical line. On my 336, the chamber just kisses the ramp at one point right in the center of the ramp. On my RG, there is a gap between the chamber and the ramp area. I put on my opti-visor and tried the best I could to measure the gap, and it's between .015" and .020". I also measured a few cartridges and the rim protrudes .042" from the body of the case. So at minimum I'm losing at least 1/3 of the surface area for the claw of the extractor to grab the case. Needless to say over the years I've accumulated a decent collection of special shaped needle files, this is going to be an easy fix. I don't think that I purposely try to find things wrong just so I can fix it, but I do enjoy working on guns and making things work better.

While I'm thinking about it, I have one more upgrade for the RG that I want to share. Because it's a moving part, there will always be some side to side slop between the lever and the receiver. I got out my feeler gages, my RG and my 336 for comparison. In order for the RG to have the same feel as the Marlin, the lever needs to be .008" thicker. I always keep a brass shim assortment on hand, and I used my Whitney hole punch to make 2 washers that are 3/8" OD by 3/16" ID and .004" thick. The brass shim is easy enough to cut, the $7.99 set of hollow punches from Harbor Freight would also work to cut the washers. I inserted the washers onto the lever screw in every possible configuration and I determined that there is only one best way to install them. When I reassemble the lever both shim washers belong on the right side of the lever. A dab of grease will help to hold them in place while the lever is being installed. When the screw that holds the lever is being installed, make sure the screw passes through the right side of the receiver first, then it passes through the two shims, then the lever, then screw it into the threaded hole on the left side of the receiver. By placing the shims together on the right side of the lever, it creates a lot surface area between the side of the lever and the inside of the receiver. I promise that if you install the shims the way I described, you will be surprised at how well the gun feels when cycling the lever. When I place one shim each on both sides of the lever, the only contact the lever has is with the two 3/8" diameter washers. Even though I couldn't use thicker washers or the lever would lock up, with one washer per side the lever still had a good amount of side play.

If your lever feels a little sloppy, try my shim fix and it will feel like a different gun when you're finished.

[joec]

Now my question is pretty simple I think, would the Marlin 336 parts work on a Rossi 45-70 such as the extractor etc, or are they different?

When I ordered the parts from Rossi, they were a common part across the three chamberings.

Thanks Michael that is good to know.

[Centaur 1]

I got the new parts in the mail today, put my rifle back together and everything works as it should. Not only is the extractor made from thicker steel, but when I compared the new Marlin ejector with the broken one, it's obvious the Marlin part is made stronger than the Rossi in the area where it broke.