The Marlin 39 Club

[Nematocyst]

Mo, I will gladly be roasted by you ,
even if by few others. (Generally, I get up in faces. )

As you know, somewhat, from some PM's,
it's been a rough couple of years, best described
by words beginning with the letters c, f and s.

Eat a grouse for me, please.
No, two, with stuffing and fresh corn.

Nem

[Nematocyst]

Don't know what you can hunt out that way with your 39
but I'd find out and start practicing.

Gray squirrel in places, but not others.
(Their numbers are extremely variable even in the same habitat. Odd.)

Not many rabbits here. Too dense with woods, not many meadows.

Need to check into what birds I can take.

I'll confess that I'm even more eager to get my 336 over here.
Like some other places, the whitetail population is stressed.
Food was way down last year. But they do exist,
and .30-30 is the gun. There are meese here also (<--- joke),
and in the right hands, .30-30 will take them.
(There's also some squirrelly people living in Stephen King's state,
enough that one could appreciate a 17.5" 336 in the camp. )

But this is not to argue against the 39, just add to it.

[jimblaine]

Hello,

I am new to the club and would like to ask a couple of questions.

I have an older 39A that I have owned for many years. It has 95% finish and has a round 24" barrel and a color case hardened receiver. The serial number is B6275. Any info on the manufacture date etc. would be much appreciated.

Also does anyone know if Marlin made a carbine 39A in the same era as my gun with a 20" barrel and and a shorter magazine?

Thanks,

Jim
Springfield, MO

[Crowcifier666]

Now, I guess she's really not a "39" but I figured you guys would let me slide....

[Crowcifier666]

Jim, Look under the Marlin Lever threads at www.rimfirecentral.com. There are sticky threads at the top with dating information.

[JustsayMo]

Crowcifier. You've got a beaut!

[dfariswheel]

jimblaine

Your 39-A is a pre-war model made in 1940-41.
Marlin stopped color casing the receivers when the war started and went to blued after that.

Marlin didn't make a carbine model of the 39-A of that era.
The first factory carbines were made post-war in 1957 ??

[Crowcifier666]

Thanks Mo!

[jimblaine]

Thanks!
Jim

[momahootr]

I have a marlin 39a 22 lever action. Rifle that was passed to me from my father just wanting to find out its worth. I know its old because I grew up with this gun.

[texasred777]

momahootr, can you post some pictures of the rifle? I'm sure there are quite a few members that can give a close estimate of what the rifle is worth. Also, post the serial number; not the entire number is needed. Just the first few numbers and then just an x for each of the last few numbers. We'd all like to see pictures!

[greevestim]

I am trying to find a good and reliable gunsmith that can tune a minty 1977 1894 44 mag that has the awful marlin jamb. I would like to have someone do it that won't bugger or sctatch it all to heck.
I live in south eastern Missouri and notice that there is a marlin service center in Illinois and Minnesota and wonder if y'all ever dealt with them. I would trust it to a good smith other than the service centers if y'all had any dealings with others.
Thanks so much.
Tim

[PX15]

Tim:

FWIW my experience with the factory authorized repair facility "Paduka Shooters" in Paduka, Ky. was quite satisfactory.

I had bought a 1950 39A with a bad breech bolt and other concerns and Charlie at Paduka Shooters was very friendly and helpful to me in getting it fixed.

I would suggest Paduka Shooters would be a good choice to fix your problems.

In my experience the fine folks at Paduka Shooters fixed my old 39A perfectly and the price was fair.

It took a pretty long time as they apparently have a backlog of jobs to do, but it was worth the wait.

Just a suggestion.

Good Luck!

Jesse

P.S. Paduka Shooters ~ 877-772-3006. (Charlie)

[76shuvlinoff]

Thought I'd add my 2 cents here, I've probably posted my 77 Golden here before but I have an update. My father passed away this summer at 90 years old after a long full life with few regrets. Today I came into possession of his 52 39A so I thought I'd post it here with my 77.
Up close you would see it has 60 years of character, but it runs butter smooth and still keeps em tight. I know I don't need to say it among this group but the 52 is on top.

[Nematocyst]

Tim, great to see you found suggestions here. We're all Marlin addicts here.

76, condolences about your father's death.

But wow, what a beautiful rifle. So great that it will stay in the family.

Nem

[76shuvlinoff]

Thank you Nematocyst, as far as the rifle goes my cell phone camera hides a lot of detail. However the rifle is very personal to me and is now my prized possession.

[Nematocyst]

I totally understand the limitations of cell cams, 76.
I'm stuck with one right now as my only one, after years of fine 35 mm lens.
Convenient, but they can suck for more than snapshots.

And yes, prized possession, indeed.

Nem

[back40]

some beautiful 39s in this thread. not the least of which is your father's '52, 76. my condolences on his passing.

[M1GarandDeerHunter]

Wow, cool thread guys! I stumbled on this, couldnt believe how old it is. For my two cents worth i have a model 39A bought in 1985. love it. bazillion rounds shot and still going. very very accurate. I am used to shooting post and peep sights so i added a sourdough front sight with a reflective front face and a williams rear sight with target knobs and a twilight peep. It has a leather sling, and my Pa showed me how to slick up the action abit and firelap the barrel. What a shooter just like its big brother a 336 in 30-30. It layed great waste to vermin when i was a hired hand on a local farm. Its now a family favorite. I have come across gun guys that had NO use for lever actions??!!!! try my rifle fall in love and buy their own. The sight set up worked good in the barn with CB's for killing rats, pigeons, coons, possums, woodchucks etc. and it was easy to rezero from LR back to shorts or CB because the sights were easy to rezero. Very versatile rifle.The CB and Shorts required strictly head shots. Also Lots and lots of rabbits and squirrels fell as well. I just cannot say enough good things about this Marlin. only one broken part in nearly 30 years of service, the spring thingy that holds tention on the lever. Thats it. Sorry for such a long post, but I have REALLY used mine.

[Irish Bird Dog]

76....condolences on your father's passing........he had a good long run....

did you have to change out the front sight on the '77 with the Skinner peep??? I ask cuz you have the hood on yet.

I needed to change out the front sight on my '71 24" octagon bbl when I put my SKINNER sight on....maybe cuz it is so slim at the muzzle end and lost some height from a standard bbl.

[76shuvlinoff]

skinner sight........
76....condolences on your father's passing........he had a good long run....

did you have to change out the front sight on the '77 with the Skinner peep??? I ask cuz you have the hood on yet.

I needed to change out the front sight on my '71 24" octagon bbl when I put my SKINNER sight on....maybe cuz it is so slim at the muzzle end and lost some height from a standard bbl.

Irish,
No I am still using the factory front sight. I debated changing it but I am not sure what the advantage to doing that would be since it seems to shoot fine.

Now I have to admit I am not familiar with the replacement front sight. Is somehow easier to use?

[aka108]

I remember saving up some money and in 1955 I bought a brand new Chevrolet and had a few bucks left over. On my way home with the new car I stopped at a hardware store and purchased a brand new 39A for 60 bucks. I still have the rifle. The Chevrolet is probably rebar holding some concrete together somewhere. I must be getting old, forgot I posted on this thread way back. Original post was No. 11. Had to this note to the current post.

[Irish Bird Dog]

Originally Posted by 76shuvlinoff

Irish,
No I am still using the factory front sight. I debated changing it but I am not sure what the advantage to doing that would be since it seems to shoot fine.

Now I have to admit I am not familiar with the replacement front sight. Is somehow easier to use?

No reason to change out factory front sight if it works with Skinner peep....however, mine did not so I had to change sights...after testing it I had to file it down aboout 1/16" or so to make it shoot to point of aim and still have some room for vertical adj. Skinner sells a TALL front sight so there is room to file it down to get it to work with his receiver mounted peep sight.

[JustsayMo]

My condolences to you 76. It sounds as if he had a blessed life and lived it well.

A firearm passed through generations says a lot about a family - values, traditions, respect... I admire that.

[76shuvlinoff]

Thanks for the thoughts.

I hadn't shot Dad's 52 for a long time. Years ago he was having problems with it and at that time I installed a new extractor, new ejector and a replaced a completely missing bullet guide. I think maybe Dad had "worked" on it a bit.

I only had a few minutes but I took it out today and ran 30 rounds through it free standing at approx 35 yards The trigger is so much better than my 77 it makes me look better than I am. The action is like good bourbon, smooooth. This old rifle makes me grin.