Old marlin 3030 need some advice?

[akuser47]

I was ask to fix a gun for a guy I don't know him well it is an older side eject marlin 3030 his forearm is loose and when he loads it full it will not chamber more than 2 rounds he said mainly when he bumps it on his tractor. The gun is not taken care of very well it sits under his truck seat. so alot of what looks like surface rust. if gun is upside down it will cycle all rounds but if bumped when being held correctly it will only cycle two rounds then nothin.
My assumption -- I think with the forearm so loose it is torquing his mag tube and if this has happened for a long time then has caused this to loosen the tube enough I offered to fix it for him but he is a I already know but want you to do it in front of me kind of guy. So any one here got anuy ideas I can check into let me know thanks. I do not have the gun in my hands only trying to decide if this is worth my effort to try and fx for him as he thinks he knows everything already so I don't want that over my shoulder, but I figure I could give him advice. instead of service maybe.

[Ranch Dog]

The only advice I have is to let him fix it for two reasons. First, his lack of care more than likely caused the problem and he isn't going to start caring for the rifle because you fixed it. Second, I've been around Marlins all my life and never heard of this issue. I suspect that it is going to be an issue that is going to be hard to trace and might even cost money to fix if parts are worn. Better he handle it.

If I had to address the issue, the first thing I would do besides telling him to stay at home would be to dissassemble the rifle to see if Mr. Know-It-All might have had it apart and put it back together wrong. I'm not really sure what you mean "if gun is upside down it will cycle all rounds but if bumped when being held correctly it will only cycle two rounds then nothin."

[Dan 444]

Without physically checking-out the rifle, it would be tough to determine the cause of the issue. I, too, have not experienced/heard/read of this issue. Feeding issues can result from a myriad of things. Given his attitude, I would let him deal with it.

Dan

[akuser47]

That is what I was thinkin. Dodgeing the bullet as the phrase goes. He has already had some friend gunsmith look at it and I guess he wasn't satisfied with the fact he could not figure it out. I agree though I think I will stay away from this one. thanks guys didn't know if this may have been a regular issue ever for a marlin. Upside down I mean literally holding it with lever up on the shooting bench then it will cycle all rounds. Turn it uporight to shooting postion and shoot after it will cycle a full tube. bump the barrel down or forearm then only two rounds chambers. Weird, I will avoid this as a project thanks for the input guys.

[dpe.ahoy]

Maybe the cartridge carrier is not lifting the cartridge up far enough, when upside down, the cartridge falls into place. But why it would fail to do so only after being bumped around is weird. I agree, let him tinker with it, I'm sure it's through misuse or handling that caused this. DP