The Marlin 39 Club

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I bought my Golden 39A in 1970 with graduation money and have had lots of fun with it over the years. I shot a 4 shot group one day at 102 yards that I could cover with a dime. Reminds me it is time to get it out of the safe and shoot it again when my shoulder heals from surgery last week.
 
I inherited a Marlin 39 (no A) when my Dad died in 2005 or so. It is rather beat up but intact, has had the firing pin replaced in the 1960s. It has several redeeming factors. It has been in my family since purchased new. It is intact. It is mine. Did I mention it has a four digit serial number?
 
Please add me to the list....
I have a 1968 39A Golden in near new condition. I picked it up from a very close friends collection. It has only been fired 12 times sense new. I will post some pictures soon. I purchased a new Leopold scope for it also. I have also been looking at a Skinner peep site. The rifle is fantastic looking and shows the workmanship that we all love. This is my first post and very happy to learn and be apart of the group. Thanks
 
Welcome aboard, Frankie. Do take your time and read through this thread. This is quite the compendium of 39A knowledge.
 
Had two 39As. The first, a Mountie, was before I was married and it was the most accurate .22LR sporter I ever shot! I was easily head-shooting red squirrels out of the tall trees at camp and other wooded areas. It sported a Williams 5D and Marble's fine white dot front. It shot half-inch groups at 50 yards with the fine aperture.

The second 39A, a Deluxe model was not so hot, but it was pretty and had a pistol grip. It may have been put-together by a hung-over guy or perhaps, just before a labor strike. The iron sights weren't at 12:00 on the barrel, the receiver top was not even close to 90 degrees from the sides, a fact that I never noticed until after mounting a Williams 5D receiver sight. There were other problems, but the extractor wasn't great, so there were lots of jams. Did I mention that it was a pretty "girl"? It was, and it shot pretty well too.
 
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It may have been put-together by a hung-over guy or perhaps, just before a labor strike. The iron sights weren't at 12:00 on the barrel, the receiver top was not even close to 90 degrees from the sides, a fact that I never noticed until after mounting a Williams 5D receiver sight. There were other problems, but the extractor wasn't great, so there were lots of jams.
That one's quite unusual in my experience. Wouldn't it be interesting to know the particulars as to how it came to be in a box in such poor shape from the factory?

Todd.
 
Well, here I am. I joined THR because of this thread. I'm currently on page 57, and will read it all the way through.

My first experience with a 39 was from a friends Mountie. He loaned it to me, so I could clean it for him, as I am a gun guy and he was older. Well I fired it some and cleaned it and returned it. That was 13-14 years ago.

Fast forward to now. I purchased a 39AS. I had some problems with it. It would lock the bolt and lever solid upon firing. Not every time, but often with some ammo and never with some. I did some tinkering and much research and have it repaired now.

I also have converted the rifle from a safety model to the older 39A configuration by installing an older hammer and trigger, and making a safety delete plug. The hammer and trigger dropped in no problem and offer a clean and perfect 3.5 or maybe 4 pound trigger pull. With the original spring, it pinched the rim of the casing too much, enough so it caught on the cartridge guide. I replaced it with a reduced power 336 spring, which my research shows is the correct weight for a 39A. The safety, I bought a spare and cut a groove in it for the roll pin to set in, then faced each side down until it was flush when installed. I did this with my dremel and a drill, as I don't have a lathe. Had it blued and installed it.

The 39 has a certain something other guns don't. It has a feel of quality, of craftsmanship, a pride of ownership, that other rimfires and many centerfires don't.

I will teach my son to shoot with it when he is old enough, and likely pass it to him one day.... or maybe buy him his own. I wouldn't want to be without one.

Thanks for all the information contained here in this 39 club thread and for having me.
 
The only 39 I still own is this TDS. I have thought several times about selling it to fund a rifle I will shoot more, but after my son was born in October, I decided to keep it in hopes that he might love it and grow up with it. Handy little rifle for sure.View attachment 996980

I'm very jealous of that rifle! I went into the local sporting goods store in the 90's and they had one for sale. I asked to see it and the salesman told me I was too young to afford the rifle and would not show it to me. I ran to the bank to get the money to buy it and it was sold by the time I returned. I was so mad, but did show my money to the salesman and his manager. Anyways, the TDS has always been the one that got away....

Enjoy that rifle and hope your son loves it when he is grown a bit!

Matt
 
The peanut is a reference to the little brass insert that is located on the pistol grip. Back in the day you could remove it and send it to Marlin and they would engrave your initials in it and send it back to you. They only produced them with the insert in 1951 20190731_105632.jpg
 
Well I didn't find a picture of the rifle itself, but I found a couple of old pictures of shooting with my two sons. Before anyone points out that we are not following every safety rule, I get it. One of my son is handicapped and can not wear glasses or hearing protection. We were shooting CB's and out of the Mountie, they barely pop. My eldest son was 7 and my middle son was 3 at the time. Unfortunately my son with CP can't tolerate shooting anymore, but my other one loves to shoot with me. He is 15 now and still loves the Marlin 39 Mountie.
Marlin39Casey.jpeg

Marlin39Luke.jpeg
 
Well, here I am. I joined THR because of this thread. I'm currently on page 57, and will read it all the way through.

My first experience with a 39 was from a friends Mountie. He loaned it to me, so I could clean it for him, as I am a gun guy and he was older. Well I fired it some and cleaned it and returned it. That was 13-14 years ago.

Fast forward to now. I purchased a 39AS. I had some problems with it. It would lock the bolt and lever solid upon firing. Not every time, but often with some ammo and never with some. I did some tinkering and much research and have it repaired now.

I also have converted the rifle from a safety model to the older 39A configuration by installing an older hammer and trigger, and making a safety delete plug. The hammer and trigger dropped in no problem and offer a clean and perfect 3.5 or maybe 4 pound trigger pull. With the original spring, it pinched the rim of the casing too much, enough so it caught on the cartridge guide. I replaced it with a reduced power 336 spring, which my research shows is the correct weight for a 39A. The safety, I bought a spare and cut a groove in it for the roll pin to set in, then faced each side down until it was flush when installed. I did this with my dremel and a drill, as I don't have a lathe. Had it blued and installed it.

The 39 has a certain something other guns don't. It has a feel of quality, of craftsmanship, a pride of ownership, that other rimfires and many centerfires don't.

I will teach my son to shoot with it when he is old enough, and likely pass it to him one day.... or maybe buy him his own. I wouldn't want to be without one.

Thanks for all the information contained here in this 39 club thread and for having me.
Several years ago, I bought the same model that you have and think it was made just before a labor strike, because it was a royal MESS! The scope mount screw holes in the receiver were drilled out of line; the receiver top was not 90 degrees from the sides, the iron sights were off-plumb by several degrees, and the extractor didn't work well. However, on the good side, it was a pretty rifle, like yours. I finally decided that it had to find a new home, so sold it at a gun show, complete with the Williams 5D sight I installed and heartily recommend.
 
Well I didn't find a picture of the rifle itself, but I found a couple of old pictures of shooting with my two sons. Before anyone points out that we are not following every safety rule, I get it. One of my son is handicapped and can not wear glasses or hearing protection. We were shooting CB's and out of the Mountie, they barely pop. My eldest son was 7 and my middle son was 3 at the time. Unfortunately my son with CP can't tolerate shooting anymore, but my other one loves to shoot with me. He is 15 now and still loves the Marlin 39 Mountie.
I remember those days with my boys :cool:

Now they are all grown up and have guns of their own
 
I appreciate the peanut explination.

That's neat. Is there any after market grip caps available with the peanut? I'm considering skinnying the forearm and I'll have to refinish the stock to match. So km thinking on dropping the grip cap as it's gaudy.
 
I haven't been in the rifle section of THR for some time. I do remember this thread however. I bought my M39 back around 1971 or 1972. We had a chain store in town called Pamida that had a small gun counter. They had a 1970 Marlin centennial Model 39. I looked at it a couple times, I forget the price but it was just a bit over what I wanted to spend. One day however they had marked it down a bit. As I looked at it the counter guy said it was missing its extractor and therefor the reduced price of $110 . I offered them $100 and bought the gun. I stopped at a gunsmith place on the way home and bought and extractor. Then mailed a letter to Marlin that I had bought this gun new and it had no extractor. So a bit later a new one came in the mail at no charge. A nice little gun with a carbine octagon barrel, a brass plack on the stock and medallion on the receiver . It shot well and after some years passed a friend wanted it and I sold it to him. (stupid on my part).
Well the next part of my story is I am at a gun show about 5 or so years ago and on a table there lays a 1970 model just like I had. No wood, and it had been in a fire. I bought it for $100 also, but of course far from new. I checked it over and the fire had damaged the wood to the point where the guy had discarded it. The heavy octagon barrel, receiver, and bolt seem to be OK as well as the outer magazine tube. My plan is to bead blast and duracoat the metal. I will replace springs. I bought new wood and have it nearly fitted. Bought new springs, then I became ill, and have been unable to get back to finishing the project. One thing after another has taken me to near the end, but I hope to finish that project yet. (I have too many to finish)
So this is my contribution to the Model 39 thread. They are nice little guns, and my friend still has my gun that I sold him way to cheap, and wouldn't sell it back to me years ago even at the good profit I offered him.
 
Mnrivrat, thanks for sharing. I hope you get well soon. I know about being ill.



I am up into the 60s on the thread now. Best I recall, in the early pages here (could be elsewhere), there was mention made about a loose hammer screw causing misfires. I've experienced that. An odd very intermittent light strike. Checked the hammer pivot and it was loose. Happened twice. Guess I'll have to loctite it.
 
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