Don't do this!

[Centaur 1]

We all know the similarities between the Rio Grande and the Marlin 336, I found one difference that got me in trouble. When disassembling the bolt for cleaning both halves of the firing pin on the Marlin are held in place with roll pins. The holes that these pins go into are both thru holes so you can tap the pins back out with a punch. Here's where I got into trouble. The firing pins on the RG are held in differently, the front half is held in with a pin, but the rear half uses a long set screw screwed into a blind hole. In my haste while reassembling the bolt, I inserted the front firing pin with the flat spring attached and slid the rear firing pin in right behind it. Then I reached down and picked up the pin that belongs in the front thru hole, and tapped it into the rear blind hole that's threaded for the set screw. At this point reached for the front pin and realized I had a screw. Huge "O Crap" moment at this point. The way I figured it I had two options; 1- go get a roll pin for the front hole and never take the bolt apart again, or 2- Drill into the bolt from the other side so I could drive the pin from the threaded hole. Luckily I have the proper tools to try option #2. Using my height gage and a makeshift surface plate I laid out the exact location to drill from the opposite side. When I tried to center punch the spot that I needed to drill, it became apparent the bolt was too hard to punch. At this point I wasn't going to give up, I found a 1/8" carbide center drill that I put in my Dremmel tool. The plan was to carefully drill as close as possible to where the hole needed to be, and pray. Here's where I got lucky, even though the bolt is too hard to center punch the carbide cut it easily. Evidently Rossi does a good job of drilling as deep as possible without breaking through, because as soon as the drill started cutting it broke through to the hole the pin was in. The two holes lined up like one and I was able to tap the pin out, and the bolt is hard enough that I didn't damage the threads when I drove the pin in. Everything is back together like they're supposed to be, only now my bolt looks like a Marlin with the extra hole. I got real lucky this time, I was doing a task that I performed dozens of times in the past and I wasn't paying attention. Don't do this!

[akuser47]

Glad u worked through it. I know how it feels i just lost my p22 slide stop spring it is costing me $8.50 to replace. Arggg it is so tiny i spent alot of timecpookin never found it. Hard lessons learned.
I know different situations but frustrating either way.

[Centaur 1]

The instant I realized what I had done, my face turned red and the room got really warm. Then after I fixed the problem without anyone else finding out what a bone-head move I made, I contemplated not telling anyone what I did, but that wouldn't help others. Hopefully someone who reads this won't make the same mistake I did.

[akuser47]

Def. Great info in case someone does this thanks for sharing.

[Missionary]

Good mroning
I appreciate your posting this. Who would ever think Rossi would use a roll pin at one end and a threaded screw at the other. Must be a reason but what ? All the extra work and what do they gain ? Maybe something to do with Patent Rights ?
Mike in Peru

[Centaur 1]

Good mroning
I appreciate your posting this. Who would ever think Rossi would use a roll pin at one end and a threaded screw at the other. Must be a reason but what ? All the extra work and what do they gain ? Maybe something to do with Patent Rights ?
Mike in Peru

I also thought that was strange, especially since the hole is off center and it breaks through the hole that the firing pin goes in. They must drill and tap the screw hole prior to drilling the firing pin hole. The only explanation that I could come up with is Rossi doesn't use a roll pin like Marlin, they use an undersized pin and they put a heavy straight knurl on one end. Pins that use a knurl to create an interference fit work fine if they're put in and never removed. Every time you tap it out and put it back in the knurl flattens until the point where it's no longer a tight fit. The front pin can't fall out because it's held captive by the extractor. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried using a pin in the rear hole, but switched to using a screw when the pin kept falling out. Maybe roll pins are hard to come by in Brazil

[Ranch Dog]

Thanks for relating your experience Centaur 1! With my first RG teardown, I thought that screw vs. pin quite strange as well. I could have understood it if both where the same but the split is weird to me. Easy to take it out and put it back in.