Made the same year I was born and purchased by my grandfather I am told the day I was born.
Is not the 39A the oldest and longest continually produced firearm?
Zamak is inexpensive and very good for casting. Some of the Zamak alloys are pretty sturdy--maybe even better than some aluminum alloys, so simply stating something is made of Zamak isn't an instant indictment, but it's still not exactly what I want to hear if I'm contemplating a purchase.
Sure, I've heard tell that you can actually make gun parts out of plastic and still end up with a durable gun if it is designed properly.
Zamak 5 finishes and plates well. Zamak 2 is actually a little stronger and still weighs the same--it's also the most expensive alloy in the Zamak family. There are some aluminum alloys which are much lighter and stronger than any of the Zamak family, but I suspect that using them would significantly increase the price of the final product. Whatever Henry is using is good enough--there's no need for them to upgrade from a purely functional perspective, but understanding that isn't enough to make me, personally, want to spend money on a gun with Zamak parts. Call it a personal flaw...
I don't think the part broke, I think that's just when he either stopped the test or stopped reporting on it.
). Anyway, we also differed on Henry's as I had a long standing disdain for them that I never kept a secret. It was from his constant goading that I finally gave in and got one. Then another. The first one started giving me fits on its first outing. The second waited until I spent $250 on upgraded wood and a peep sight before it stopped working. Both guns need to go back to the mothership and when/if they get fixed, I'll sell them and never buy another. I don't care how good their customer service is, I shouldn't have to experience it. As far as I'm concerned, those used Winchesters and Marlins on the market are worth every penny.
Easy solution - pick them up and hold them. I agree about the receiver's appearance. Winny's always look more western... But the Marlin shoots better,
Did you look at the picture in post #51?
Thanks. I remembered his name but didn't post it. It appears that my shaky fingers added a zero and I didn't bother to proof read my post. Still it proves that guns made of zamak are up to the task of standing up to 22 rimfire.
I use heavy grease to hold them
In the BL22, #3, the bolt cover plate, and #20, the ejector spring. Both are flimsy. It the fitment isn't perfect the bolt cover plate slips out of that inlet in the bolt, jams against the receiver wall during the lever stroke, then promptly bends enough to be unusable.
While you are reassembling the gun after replacing the bolt cover plate, the ejector spring MUST be perfectly placed, has no retainer other than a shallow divot in the receiver, and must be held down with your third hand as you assemble. If that spring moves out of place a millimeter during assembly, it is pinched between parts and bends beyond repair and you must order a new one. If it slips out of place as you place the ejector over the spring and don't notice, the first time you rack the lever you bend that spring beyond repair and must order a new one. I finally had to use lock tite to keep it in place to reassemble at the suggestion of my gunsmith.
Not, but I just went back to check it out. Thanks. My old memory must be foggy because the picture, if correct, doesn't remind me of my experience having previously owned the Winny and now the Marlin. Maybe mine was a Trapper? Don't know.
The 24" Marlins have a fairly heavy barrel profile, fat forend and 336 buttstock. IMHO, the stocks look out of place on the little rimfire action.
, because the top rifle is a Marlin 39A Mountie and the lower picture is a Winchester 9422M XTR. The 39A was in production an awful long time and there were several versions. There was a 39M, the M designating a carbine 20 inches barrel with a pistol grip stock and slimmer fore end stock. Somewhere around 1957 the "Golden" designation was added because they then came with a golden trigger. Go figure. My rifle, in post #51 is a 39A Mountie from the early 50s (not saying exactly ). It has MG rifling and did not have a golden trigger. Somewhere about 1966 I met a young fellow who had a Golden 39A (24 inches barrel, fat fore end, pistol grip) and I was so smitten with the golden trigger that I just had to have one of my own and so jumped on my Raleigh English Racer and raced on down to the hardware store and ordered me one up and my grandfather helped me to install it. And yes, I still have the original blued trigger..
