If you have a Marlin lever action rifle, you’ve probably forgotten to take the cross-bolt safety off at least once. The way the cross-bolt safety is designed, instead of the safety preventing you from pulling the trigger like on most rifles, the hammer still drops but is stopped before it contacts the firing pin. So what you end up with is the gun not going off, and a loud snap that scares off whatever you were shooting at. It only took that happening once before I started digging around on the internet for a way to disable or take it out. What I found were two options:
1. Put a 009 rubber o-ring(7/32″ ID, 11/32″ OD, 1/16″ Width)in the red recess on the fire side of the safety. They sell a package of 100 on Amazon for about $7: http://amzn.to/xqBM5e
2. Clyde Ludwig makes a cross-bolt safety replacement kit that replaces the safety with a machined & blued piece that looks like a screw. It’ll run you $9.95 + $3.00 in shipping, and you just mail a check to:
Clyde Ludwig
P.O. Box 318
Bridgewater, SD 57319
Just a reminder, removing or altering your safety voids your warranty and more than likely makes you liable if someone gets hurt as a result.
I went with the cross-bolt safety replacement kit because I think it gives my 1895 Cowboy rifle a more authentic/cleaner look, and is a more permanent solution; I didn’t want to be replacing o-rings for the life of the rifle. If you’re not stopping every step of the way to take pictures like me, it’s about a 10 minute job that even a beginner can do. The kit comes with directions, the machined and blued safety replacement, and the right size allen wrench for the set screw you’ll need to remove. Below are the step-by-step installation instructions included with the kit, with pictures and a few tips added by me:
1. Be sure rifle is unloaded.
2. Open lever, look in chamber and make sure rifle is unloaded.
3. Using a straight slot screwdriver, remove the tang screw and slide off the butt stock.
4. Remove the 5/64 allen head set screw on the left side of the receiver. Be careful no to lose the small ball and spring under it.
(the yellow dot of paint is covering the set screw)
(the yellow covering the set screw is not loc-tite, from what I can tell it’s just yellow paint so that Marlin can tell if you’ve altered the safety. Pretty sure this step is the point at which you likely void the warranty on your rifle)
(set screw removed)
(original safety)
5.With the set screw spring and ball removed, place the hammer at half cock. The safety should fall out of the right side of the receiver.
(hammer depressed)
(hammer at half-cock)
6. Insert safety replacement in the right side of the receiver and align the detent hole with the set screw hole, lower hammer completely. Hammer should touch firing pin; if not rotate the safety replacement until it does.
(replacement safety partially inserted)
7. Replace the ball, spring, and set screw. A small amount of thread lock may be used on the set screw if desired.
8. Replace butt stock and tang screw. This completes installation.
(finished installation)
There’s an old Wisconsin address & phone number for Clyde lingering on some forums & this post at leverguns.com, but his current/new address & phone number are:
Clyde Ludwig
P.O. Box 318
Bridgewater, SD 57319
If you’d like to talk to him before you mail off the check, his phone number is: 605.729.2029
Call after 6:30pm CST
