Historical 39A accuracy

[PapaG]

I got my first 39 around 1959 or so. Then a Mountie. Then several more. I never really wrung them out for accuracy, usually just using the normal open sights or a 7/8" tube 4X scope. I did put a decent 3-9 on my last one which now resides in my younger son's basement. All I can remember is zeroing it with the crosshairs centered at fifty and setting the bull on the post to be on at 100.
I've heard all kinds of stories, some realistic and some pipe dream optimistic.
I recently picked up a 1971 special "Article 2", 24" octagon, and received the base today and mounted a 4-12X, collimated and snugged down.
Bore is good. Action tight. As soon as wife gets over her hopefully final ankle surgery I'm off to the range.
Question to all of you out there is, "What should I expect?". I'm a pretty good shooter, competitive over the years in smallbore, BP offhand rifle as well as a local form of BR50.
I don't expect it to match my Win 52 or CZ455 Varmint. My Contender carbine 22 has done 5/8" at 50 yards on a calm day with Federal match.
Real world stories please. Thank you.

 

[Tentwing]

That is a 1952 Marlin 39a .It likes Aguila lead nose 40 grain standard velocity ( sub sonic round) better than anything else except for RWS subsonic 40 grain. I mostly feed it the Aguila due to price difference. Look at the target over my grandson’s left shoulder. That is the entire tube mag from a steady table with a sand bag under the forearm from 40 yards by a twelve year old boy. It has Ballard rifling not Microgroove , and puts together groups better than any of my six other Marlin 39a’s. All of them are minute of squirrel head at 50 yards if I do my part . Bear in mind 22’s are sometimes notoriously ammo finicky, so shoot enough brands/bullet weights, and velocities to figure out what your rifle likes best Hope this help’s …… Tentwing

 

[243winxb]

My 1970s scoped M39 squirrel rifle didnt hold zero, same ammo. More important then group size.

The forarm pressure changes with the weather.

If the forearm is a little loose, its a good thing.

 

[nettlle]

My father had one when I was a child. It was not very accurate. There were two 22 caliber rifles on our gun rack when I was growing up. One was the 39A and the other a Remington 512 Sportsman. When we needed to use a 22 rifle the Remington is the one my father, brother, and I grabbed off the rack.

 

[jmr40]

At one time I had two Marlin Mounties made in the mid 1950's. I doubt the shorter barrel had any effect on it, but neither were particularly accurate even with with a scope on them. The Winchester 94-22 would rival my bolt actions.

I don't know if my experience is typical or an anomaly. Just reporting what I observed.

 

[3Crows]

They are accurate enough for who they are for. Many a squirrel or rabbit or some sort of perstiferous pests and vermin have fallen to mine. The 39A was never really meant to be a target rifle but instead an utility rifle.

 

[dfariswheel]

I know of several people who own Marlin 39-A rifles in excellent condition and with good scopes that can get almost 1 inch groups at 100 yards.
I know of one man who owns a mid-1960's 39-A he bought for himself as a teenager that gets 100 yard 1 inch groups often.
The keys are a rifle that's in excellent condition and using selected ammo.

A .22 shooter wanting the best accuracy shoots as many brands and types they can find and once they find the most accurate, they buy a lot of it.
.22's are finicky, and Match grade ammo is not necessarily what a specific rifle will shoot best, but you usually do get better accuracy with a real Match grade ammo.

 

[nettlle]

When I was a youngster scopes on 22 rifles were pretty rare. The 22 ammo was the cheapest or whatever we could find. Guns had to be plug and play back then. They were a tool.

 

[cfullgraf]

I have a 39A that was a Christmas gift from my father in the early 1960’s. For a youngster, it was plenty accurate dispatching all sorts of tin cans and pine cones.

In my adult years, I put a scope on it then went to a Williams peep sight which it still wears today.

I’ve never shot mine for groups.

 

[tubeshooter]

You had your first one a decade before I was thought about, and you've had several to my one.
Plus I never shot competitively.
So not much I can tell you, actually.

Mine does "pretty good", and conventional wisdom says it's usually a good small game gun but maybe not "CZ or better" level accurate.


But then again you probably knew that already. Congrats!

 

[chicharrones]

I bought my Marlin 39AS new in the mid '90s. I did not punch paper with it back then and I don't remember making shots hit small targets much past an estimated 30 yards.

Some years later I added a Williams 5D receiver sight and I expected it to become more accurate. I can't recall that it was more accurate.

Some years after that I did a mild trigger job and did the mod that gets rid of the rebounding hammer effect. Shooting it at paper with a 4x scope was a let down. Hitting a 1" target at 50 yards was virtually impossible. The bullets would always strike outside that 1" target, in any direction.

I really like the gun. It's beautiful and well made. But a basic bolt gun in the same caliber will out shoot my Marlin 39AS.

 

[3Crows]

Some years after that I did a mild trigger job and did the mod that gets rid of the rebounding hammer effect. Shooting it at paper with a 4x scope was a let down. Hitting a 1" target at 50 yards was virtually impossible. The bullets would always strike outside that 1" target, in any direction.

Can you or anyone tell me more about the mod to eliminate trhe rebounding hammer please? Or a link or something to information. Thanks.

 

[Roverguy]

I have a predecessor to the 39: an 1892 made at the turn of the century. Has a period Marbles tang sight and is remarkably accurate at 100 yards.

 

[chicharrones]

Can you or anyone tell me more about the mod to eliminate trhe rebounding hammer please? Or a link or something to information. Thanks.

As you know, the 39s with the cross bolt safety button have a hammer that bounces back a bit when fired so that the safety button can slide under the hammer. My 1894 with safety button does not do this as issued from the factory (which means I have to pull the hammer back one notch to use the safety button on the 1894).

Anyway, what has to be done is the rebounding leg of the hammer spring strut has to be removed. Here's a link at RFC that speaks to it. https://www.rimfirecentral.com/threads/gizzys-39as-new-style-mods-fixes.1170931/

In the case of my 39AS, the biggest improvement was reducing light primer strikes significantly. Others claim their guns gained some accuracy. Edit to add: In my case, the mod did not make the firing pin hit with too much force as mentioned in the link above, so I didn't have to make adjustments for that to my 39AS.

Photos borrowed from the web long ago. I can't remember who to credit.

Before


After

 

[3Crows]

As you know, the 39s with the cross bolt safety button have a hammer that bounces back a bit when fired so that the safety button can slide under the hammer. My 1894 with safety button does not do this as issued from the factory (which means I have to pull the hammer back one notch to use the safety button on the 1894).

Anyway, what has to be done is the rebounding leg of the hammer spring strut has to be removed. Here's a link at RFC that speaks to it. https://www.rimfirecentral.com/threads/gizzys-39as-new-style-mods-fixes.1170931/

In the case of my 39AS, the biggest improvement was reducing light primer strikes significantly. Others claim their guns gained some accuracy.

Photos borrowed from the web long ago. I can't remember who to credit.

Before
View attachment 1251346

After
View attachment 1251347

Thanks, I will look into that. My newer 39A which does have the safety button (which I rather enjoy using myself) a few years ago began to have light strikes. I replaced the original spring with a Wolf spring. No issues since. But I would like to just have a half cock like all of my other Marlins, pre and post CBS.

 

[Balrog]

39A accuracy is praised a lot on the internet. I think it's about as good as most other similar priced 22s were at that time.

The 39A is a cool rifle, looks great, and is fun to shoot. It makes you feel like a cowboy from a 1950s western, so naturally when you talk about it off range, it can shoot gnats off a cow's behind at a thousand yards.

 

[doubleh]

I have only owned one. Accuracy was only so-so off of a good bench rest set-up at 50 yards with any ammo although I did not try any of the expensive target ammo. After buying a Henry LBF that had a smoother working action and better accuracy I sold the Marlin. I raalise this is only a selection of one in each case but that is my experience.

 

[Jim Watson]

One of the guys loading black powder .22 LR tested in a Marlin, a pre-Microgroove rifle.
It did quite well and he said it did not foul out in over 50 rounds.

 

[Bill B.]

Question to all of you out there is, "What should I expect?".

I had a Marlin Golden Mountie when I was a kid back about 1960. It was good to 75 yards on Starlings with a 3/4 inch 4 power Weaver Scope. It took all types of game but don't recall ever putting it to paper for group.

I do recall one thing we tested ... micro groove rifling. Marlin claimed they shot harder, guess more velocity than other .22 brands. We tested it against Sears catalogs using a Savage, 2 Remingtons, a Winchester all using the same ammo. The Marlin went through more pages of the catalog than all the rest. Sometimes between 1/8 and 1/4 inch deeper. Just a bit of memories.

 

[PapaG]

Thanks, all. When wife is mobile and the weather lets up I will put it on the bench. Have several types of ammo. Eley Club has always been my baseline as I've found nothing that wouldn't shoot it well. (in my small bore competition days it was practice ammo at $22/500. One box of Tenex is more than that today).
CCI Minimag HP, same solid, Aguila Super Extra, Automatch, Fed match, and others. What I really want is coyote to 75-80 yard accuracy. My farm is plagued with them right now.
I've got match rifles but like to play around. Another in the test schedule is a Frankenstein 10-22. Old walnut stock and stock receiver, fiber buffer, Volquartzen trigger/hammer, and a standard unfired takeoff stainless barrel I have lapped. Also anti droop barrel block.

 

[Oldschool shooter]

I always wanted one, but around here they are stupid money. My LGS has one on his rack, not sure what is so special about it. The tag says "does not work, parts gun." With a $425 price tag. Decent ones around here go from $700 and up.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

25 Oct 2022. Two 14 round magazines of old Winchester T22 standard velocity 40gr lead .22LR from my 1960s Marlin 39A Mountie using a salvaged 1950s all glass, steel, brass Weaver B4 riflescope. Rifle was a gunshow find Oct 2000 for $270; scope was $10 at a gunshow.


Marlin 39A Mountie with Weaver B4
Heritage Rough Rider with .22 Magnum cylinder
Taurus Model 72 pump .22 Magnum

 

[MrBorland]

Question to all of you out there is, "What should I expect?". I'm a pretty good shooter, competitive over the years in smallbore, BP offhand rifle as well as a local form of BR50

FWIW - I busted out my mid-60s 39a out last year for a quick function test. Bone stock, with stock sights. CCI SV ammo. I shot a couple of quick 25 yard groups off a bag just to make sure there were no functional issues. My eyes are having trouble with picking up irons these days, which is why I limited myself to 25 yards. About 0.4" groups at 25 yards. With a scope and its preferred ammo, I've no doubt it would do notably better, particularly in your hands with your experience.

 

[PapaG]

Good job. My eyes are 80+ and cannot focus on irons like they did in the 1970s so a scope has been installed and bore sighted.

 

[MrBorland]

What I really want is coyote to 75-80 yard accuracy. My farm is plagued with them right now.

BTW, I'm no expert, but I'd use something more than .22LR. Never been 'yote hunting (which is why I'm no expert), but my impression is that one rarely gets a clean enough shot for a clean and humane kill with a .22LR.