Thread: Marlin Ballard restoration

i would weld it and re heat treat like gundoc said

I got a bit side tracked by life and this project stalled

Well I decided to make a new hammer so no harm in firing it with the existing original that's faulty
Can't make it much worse and nice to finally fling some lead from a rifle that's been in collections for many decades

Shooting a known to be under size bullet the group is ok

It did loosen and lot of historic lead fouling that a lot of cleaning by me had not freed

So I need to cast and powder coat a better size bullet and test again

I had just fitted a newly made 4340 lever pivot screw
The original was worn and slightly bent
The new one is hardened and tempered and very closely fitting and has dramatically tightened the action without any other pins or links needing to be done

The problem with your hammer is that some dick head has tried to open the action lever while the hammer was on full cock, this breaks the web at the back and elongates the hole.
The fix is fairly simple, as there is plenty of meat above, below and in front of the break use a hardwood dowel in the top curve and a brass plate behind the full cock notch and squeeze it back together in a good metal vice, it will rebound a little bit ( could tig it if you wanted to ) this will let the half and full cock engage ok and be perfectly safe it wont pull apart again.
I have done this myself and it works, I used a metal bolt on top which left a slight mark on the hammer curve, so I suggest a good hard wood dowel.

Originally Posted by George75

The problem with your hammer is that some dick head has tried to open the action lever while the hammer was on full cock, this breaks the web at the back and elongates the hole.
The fix is fairly simple, as there is plenty of meat above, below and in front of the break use a hardwood dowel in the top curve and a brass plate behind the full cock notch and squeeze it back together in a good metal vice, it will rebound a little bit ( could tig it if you wanted to ) this will let the half and full cock engage ok and be perfectly safe it wont pull apart again.
I have done this myself and it works, I used a metal bolt on top which left a slight mark on the hammer curve, so I suggest a good hard wood dowel.

Welcome aboard @George75
You sound like a man who knows his way around a Marlin Ballard

Cheers

I'm No expert, I do have a few I've worked on ( can only afford the cheapies) another tip for you is , if the lever droops a little after your lever and link and screw repairs , is to carefully peen downwards the back rear of both breach block halves ( not much) where they connect on the frame, don't over do it.
This will let the lever close tight with a nice sharp snap .

Originally Posted by George75

I'm No expert, I do have a few I've worked on ( can only afford the cheapies) another tip for you is , if the lever droops a little after your lever and link and screw repairs , is to carefully peen downwards the back rear of both breach block halves ( not much) where they connect on the frame, don't over do it.
This will let the lever close tight with a nice sharp snap .

@George75 the lock up is nice and tight and no lever droop

The new lever 4340 lever pivot screw sorted multiple small problems

And the links and pins were all just fine

So I will strip the breech block tomorrow and look at that technique you described earlier

post some more photos please this is bloody interesting

Wel I implemented the solution given by @George75
I turned a 7075 alloy rod to match the hammer curve

Put it all in the vice with a 3mm alloy shim to protect the trigger notch

Closed the gap easily with very little spring back

When in CHCH next I will get some laser welding done across the crack

The pivot screw now has very little play and I expect this will be perfect for my needs

It's never going to be a high volume shooter
But nice to do a good fix that keeps it as original as possible

looks good laser welding is bloody interesting to