Marlin 39A broken part maybe???

[Savage Shooter]

Ok I just bought this marlin 39a today a BEAUTIFUL (on the outside at least) 1951 I believe the serial number is J12xxx correct me if wrong. The idiot that had it before the guy i got if from drilled and tapped it for a scope:bang head: but OOHHH does it get worse he or a "GUNSMITH" drilled 5 different holes and they only needed two. In reality it was probably drilled by different people at different times, not all at once because the metal shavings were just coming from two holes. They were all in the action and it wouldn't hardly work. So i took it apart and got the bolt out and this little tiny piece of thin metal fell out and it has a hole drilled through it. I have no clue what it is,where it goes, or why it has a hole in it I'm pretty sure the rocket scientist that drilled the gun drilled a hole through it on accident as I found a small divot in the bolt where it had been hit with the bit. Also they didn't file of the back side of the hole so its really gritty feeling.

So heres some pictures of the the holes the inside of the action and the broken piece. I think it should go right in the slot just above the firing chamber.
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[g.willikers]

See if anything looks familiar here:
http://www.brownells.com/schematics/Marlin-/39A-sid283.aspx

 

[Savage Shooter]

I called a friend over i forgot he had one and we looked it over. We believe that the part is a homemade replacement that somebody cobbled together. It's supposed to be held in with the one original screw that supposed to be in the top, but the new one has to small a hole in it to work. I also think another part might be not original. The parts i need are 10,11, 8, and i think 9 is the screw that holds 8 in on the left side of the gun. But i can't make out the parts in the picture well enough to see what they should look like i need some actual pictures. I will try and look around for some.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

That little square part is the "cartridge guide spring" and helps assure that the noses of cartridges (especially shorts and longs) find the center of the chamber during feeding.

The first hole at the rear is in the correct position for the Marlin riflescope base adapter, the second is an added hole, the third is the "cartridge guide spring screw" hole, the fourth in the correct position for Marlin base adapter, and the fifth is added. None of the four "base adapter holes" appear to my eye to be in any sort of alignment so all four may have added by the "GUNSMITH" :banghead:.

On Marlins drilled and tapped at the factory for scope mounts, the "adapter base dummy screws" for the scope mount holes are distinctly different from the head of the screw for the cartridge guide spring. That doesn't stop people mounting sights from unscrewing the "cartridge guide spring screw" when they should only remove the two "adapter base dummy screws".


"...GUNSMITH [winking smiley]... I found a small divot in the bolt where it had been hit with the [drill] bit...."

¿¡drilled the receiver with the bolt in place!? Oh, please, go back and put airquotes around "GUNSMITH" FCOL. A [winking] smiley is too subtle. And a [rolling on the floor laughing like a Warner Bros. cartoon hyena] might be appropriate if it didn't make me wanna cry. I thought my 39-A Mountie was abused because a previous owner had drilled out the Marlin Bullseye insert to mount a sling swivel (the bullseye id's the stock as American Walnut, and is too far from the toe of the butt to be a proper position for a sling swive)l.

Adopting my fake Russian voice: "Marlin M39A tough like T34 tank." They are always worth salvage and restoration.

 

[Savage Shooter]

Yes i wanted to use a roll eyes smiley but this forum didn't have that one. I just about died when i saw what they had done to the poor gun. I thought i had gotten a steal of a deal and that this was worth a pretty penny i didn't know it wasn't drilled from the factory. This one was not drilled at the factory all it should have is a single hole for the cartridge guide spring.

 

[Savage Shooter]

Well i just ordered a new cartridge guide spring and screw from brownells. So will see how it goes, I will be going into surgery this tuesday so i won't be able to work on it once i do get the parts for a couple of weeks at least.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Looks like part #10 in the Brownell's diagram. Darn but I worked on a Marlin 39 about two months ago.

 

[45_auto]

Unbutchered 39a photos below. Sounds like you have the right parts on order.

 

[Savage Shooter]

Yup thats the part and where i thought it should go. I can't tell in your picture but the spring is curled up just a bit. Is that curl supposed to go up away from the chamber or down towards the the chamber, i think it should go down but I'm not sure.

I actually got a small file from a friend and filed the burs on the inside of the action and got it working fairly smooth. I took it out and shot it and it does work but it jams sometimes because the bullet hits the top of the chamber but you jiggle the lever a little and a it loads right.

 

[dfariswheel]

Note that the Upper Cartridge Guide is installed with it curved downward.

As above, people remove the screw thinking it's a scope mount screw hole and the guide falls out.
Then they put it back in upside down with it curved upward toward the "roof" of the receiver.

 

[Savage Shooter]

thanks for the help guys thats what i thought.