Given proper care, how long could one last?
100? 1000? 10,000?
Not sure. But I've seen them at about the century mark, and they still look a lot like my 39M. So I can say FOR SURE they'll go for 100 years without a problem.
1891, 1892 and 1897 were previous model designations. The 39M I have is virtually identical to the 1897 20" octagon model, except that the 39M has the slightly-different high-velocity bolt. The old 1897s I've handled still look like my 39M, apart from the blue and wood looking older. So I can say for sure that they'll go for 100 years without a problem. My 39M has already gone for 36 and looks close to new.
Last edited: