The Marlin 39 Club

[snaffle]

Congrats! It's nice to talk about things that make us happy. Thanks, ArmedBear I'll toss a little lube in there. I think that there is a super slick lube that folks put on sears but I can't really remember the name, Trigger Slick maybe. I really don't want to over focus on the trigger, I bought her to walk cans around but she really does have the potential to be very accurate. Annie Oakley sure made it look good and I'm sure that she had her choice of rifles.

[Nematocyst]

Originally Posted by Mal_the_Mod

Tres cool!

And another component of 'tres cool' is having a mod with an ultra cool rifle in here with us, helping keep that vibe ultra cool.

I'm find most "club threads" (I participate in several now) to be characterized by civil, mostly on topic behavior (with room for occasional friendly banter about OT things). They just have a welcoming down-home feeling to them, like the local tavern where everyone knows your name, or a bunch of folks sitting on a friend's big back porch in the country.

[Black Majik]

Well, I'm official. Just picked mine up an hour ago. I can thank BamBam-31 for his bad influence on this one

39TDS 16"

[Nematocyst]

<Gasp!>

<resist> Oh, gotta have one. </resist>

39M, yes?

[ArmedBear]

That barrel and foreend are shorter than a 39M. Nice wood, too. Is the TDS a "trapper" model or something, with a 16" barrel?

Just test-fired the 39M Octagon for the first time. Love it.

However... I also love the 39A as much as ever. Different rifles, that shoot differently.

[Black Majik]

Thanks Nem

Armed Bear,
I suppose a TDS (take down system) is sort of like a trapper model, AFAIK the 16" is the shortest39 Marlin made, around 1984 - 1994'ish?

I shot it today, had quite a few FTFire. I tried using Winchester Xpert, Federal bulk pack, and Remington Golden Bullet as well as Remington GameLoad (same thing?)

The Winchester was the worst. That stuff is crap, but I was hoping this thing would eat anything. It's been sitting in my closet waiting for a gun that's willing to eat it, the Marlin would FTF every single time. Sometimes on 2nd strike, sometimes I just rechambered a new round into the chamber.

The Federal is better, but still a FTF at 20% FTF

The Remington did the best, with a few FTF here and there. 2nd time strike always fired the round.

Now, There seemed to be some stiffness in the action. I lightly lubed the moving parts with oil, then did a quick wipedown. If I chambered a round slowly, the last 1/4 of the action would stick a little. If I gave it a little shove it'll chamber close, but on occasion if I presscheck the round stays in the chamber. seems the extractor tension is kinda weak. So then the only way I can get that round out would be to close the extractor hook over the round again with some force.

If I cycle it quickly, the action wouldn't stick. I can cycle it without noticing the stiffness at the 1/4 cycle. It only happens when I cycle the lever somewhat slowly.

Oh yeah, what's the proper procedure to lube and take down this thing? I didn't receive a manual. I just coated all moving parts with light oil.

Btw, Armed Bear, that octagonal barrel is beautiful! I've always had a soft spot for octagonal barrel lever rifles. What a fantastic find, how'd it shoot?

[dfariswheel]

A major cause of Marlin mis-fires is a gummed up firing pin.
Happily, the Marlin is easy to disassemble for cleaning.

Here's an owner's manual:
http://www.stevespages.com/page7b.htm

While it's not common, you might check for a lightened hammer spring.
Some previous owner may have attempted an action job and cut the spring.
Marlin's VERY seldom need new springs anywhere, so I'd look at a good cleaning and new lube first.

Once the bolt is out, the firing pin simply lifts out. It's channel in the bolt is snug and old lube and fouling can cause a sticky pin.

When disassembling BE SURE to put the hammer on half cock, or better still, on full cock to prevent dinking up the receiver.
Many people forget to do this, and when the receiver sections are separated, the hammer burrs and scars the receiver.

[Beetle Bailey]

I can thank BamBam-31 for his bad influence on this one

Heh eh eh. . . here's the story:

Three weeks ago BamBam-31, Black Majik, and I are at the range shooting. BamBam-31 lets Black Majik try his Marlin 39 Mountie. As I'm shooting a Mauser, I take a peek over at Black Majik's bench just to see what he's doing. He's happily firing away with the Mountie and oblivious to the world around him. I noticed he spent quite a bit of time with that Mountie.

Two weeks ago the three of us (along with another friend) are at a gunshow and Black Majik sees the 39 TDS on a "for sale" rack. As you can all see from the photo he posted, it's a nice looking rifle. BM is going back and forth on whether or not he wants to spend that much on the gun. Finally BB-31 steps in and helps them agree to a price so BM sits down to start the paperwork. Just before he starts filling it out, he shows me a little scar he's got on his pinkie finger. It's from all the shooting (and working the lever) he did a week ago with BB-31's Mountie!

BTW, Richard, if you want to, you can shoot all that troublesome .22 ammo out of my Ruger Single-Six I picked up today.

[BamBam-31]

Believe it or not, that TDS is even more gorgeous in real life. The grain in that wood is almost holographic, so a still shot of it really does it no justice. I'm SOOO glad Black Majik picked up that little beauty. He was wavering for a bit, so I went to the dealer to wheel and deal a little. The guy eventually came down 10% off his original asking price, so BM said, "Let's do it."

I'm sure dfariswheel's right about the firing pin issue. One thing: BM mentioned that his firing pin seemed to be held in by some type of screw. On my Mountie, the firing pin just sits freely in a slot/channel on the bolt. Dunno if the TDS model has an added screw to keep things in place when taken down? Either way, a good blast of gun scrubber and compressed air should do the trick, eh?

Did you like the buckhorn/globe combo? [Hypnosis] ...skinner...sights...skinner..sights..[/Hypnosis]

[Fast Frank]

The firing pin in my 39AS is held in by what looks more like a rivet.

You can see it here (The round flat head at the rear of the bolt)



It may just press in there, I don't know for sure because I've never tried to remove it.

It won't just fall out.

[Black Majik]

Dfaris,
Thanks a bunch for the tips. As Bambam-31 mentioned, my firing pin is held in with a screw/plunger to the bolt. I remember Nem mentioning this also in his FTF thread previously. Any ideas how to free the firing pin from the bolt for cross-bolt safetied 39s?


B&B,
Ah man, that gun show was a lot of fun. All I wanted to do was buy some ammo, and that's it! Next time you guys gotta stop me from going to "that" table.

I have a feeling our next weekend will be a rimfire full weekend. Ken, I'll bring the Winchester ammo, hopefully your SS will gobble those up no problem. I'll also bring your present of Federal Bulk pack from long ago, and Mikes present of Remington Game loads and we'll plink til our trigger finger goes numb (or our pinky finger goes raw again).

Mikey,
The stock sights suck. Your Skinner sights were much better. Easier to pick up, and easier to shoot with. I'll see how I fair in daylight, but at an indoor range with limited lighting I could barely see my front sight post. We'll have to access at our next ASR shoot (16th?). Hey... shawn and the 50 guys will be there.

Ok, back to the thread at hand...

[Nematocyst]

The firing pin in my 39AS is held in by what looks more like a rivet.

Same with my current 39A. It's like a plug. To get the firing pin out, the plug has to be punched out from the back side of the bolt. Easy enough.

Good to see advice on getting this beauty cleaned up and that FTF issue resolved.

Put a set of Skinners on, and ...

[Black Majik]

Nem,

Thanks for chiming in. How much force was required to get that rivet out? Mine doesn't seem to want to come out.

[Nematocyst]

Majik,

Mine punched out with a small punch and a ball peen hammer
with a couple of taps. I punched mine with the large side over a hole in a 2x4
so there was nothing holding it in, and it just dropped into the hole.

[Black Majik]

Thanks, I'll have to play around with it and see if I can get it out. Still not wanting to come out. Hmm..

[Nematocyst]

I'll defer to d'wheel on this one.
If anyone in here knows how to get it out, he does.

[BamBam-31]

Kroil, maybe? If you can't get it, I'll bring out some tools and Kroil on Saturday.

[JustsayMo]

My TDS had some failure to fire issues too. It seems to be fairly common with that variation.

Take a look at the fired (or struck but not fired) case. It should be solidly dented.

De-gunking is a good start.

Next I would try loosening the capped retaining pin slightly. Sometimes they offer enough friction to slow the firing pin.

If that doesn't work check the top rear of the chamber for a burr. If there is one the firing pin needs a little front edge profiling.

The firing pin is easy to remove with a punch. Simply drive the pin out far enough to lift the pin from its slot.

If there is no burr the firing pin travel might be limited by one of the 'leg(s)' that stick out perpendicular to the firing pin. Some careful file/stoning will remedy that.

Visually inspect how far the firing pin projects from the bolt before doing any filing!

I have some pictures of I could email you if you'd like too.

[Nematocyst]

I'll defer to d'wheel on this one.
If anyone in here knows
how to get it out,
he does.

Oh, yeah, I'm reminded,
Mo knows a bunch
of stuff about 39s, too.

[Fast Frank]

Originally Posted by JUSTSAYMO

Next I would try loosening the capped retaining pin slightly. Sometimes they offer enough friction to slow the firing pin.

Be careful with loosening that pin.

If you look at the pic I posted earlier, you can see that the stub where the cutoff tool was used on mine is worn from touching the receiver when the bolt moves.

That tells me that there's not a lot of room to back that pin out before it starts causing a whole new set of problems...

If you do loosen it, move it the absolute minimum that it takes to relieve any drag it's causing and then run your finger over the top of it. If it's sticking up so that it's higher than the surface of the bolt you might need to file a little metal off.

Personally, I think I would take some off of the firing pin where the pin was dragging on the rivet if this problem arises.

[JustsayMo]

FF is correct, just enough to relieve any binding.

On the most recent Firing Pins (rebounding hammer models) they've actually profiled the firing pin below the retaining cap. Some deburring and/or some careful filing as FF said should do the job if it is the Firing Pin binding.

A step I neglected to include in my first response to this was with the bolt removed, visually check how far the pin projects from the bolt.

[snaffle]

I put a little TW-25 lube on the hammer/trigger surfaces which resulted in a 1 pound reduction in trigger pull to 4#. Better yet it has smoothed out the feel of the trigger. No more "pushing a refrigerator across the floor" feel. I've got about 100 rounds fired now and I sort of like the heavy barrel. I'm working on my sight picture, I've been shooting with scopes for far too long. Steve

[ArmedBear]

TDS (take down system)

Are you sure it stands for that? They've all been takedowns since 1897. http://www.leverguns.com/leverguns/m..._evolution.htm

[Black Majik]

Originally Posted by ArmedBear

Are you sure it stands for that? They've all been takedowns since 1897. http://www.leverguns.com/leverguns/m..._evolution.htm

I picked it up from leverguns.com also

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/ma...winchester.htm

"such as provided for a few years in the late 80s and early 90s in the “TDS” version with a 16 1/2”“Trapper” edition. “TDS” apparently stood for “Take Down System,” but the only thing different really was that the shorter barrel length equalized the halves that were taken down; all Marlin 39s are “take-down systems.”

[Jaguar]

snaffle, Black Majik, BamBam-31, & Beetle Bailey welcome to the club. If you're interested, we are having a Marlin 39 Postcard Match you can enter. First place wins the right to say you got first place!!!