Hello, all. I just got into hunting about a year and a half ago. I'd always been a fisherman. And up until then, had never owned a firearm. I'm happy to say that I'm now an official rifle junkie. Although, my collection is a refection of my budget, as of late. If I had bottomless pockets, I'm sure I would have already acquired quite a collection. But I'm getting there. My first was a Marlin 795. Followed by a .30-30 Marlin 336. Then last weekend, I stumbled upon this gem, a Marlin 39a. I'd wanted one for a while. But could never find one. Two weeks ago, I visited my local pawn shop. They had a 1967 Mountie for $200. I went home to get money and when I got back, someone was buying it. But then the following week, I stumbled upon this beauty. A Marlin 39a, SN B940. By what research I've done, I've deduced that it is dated 1940.
After a rigorous cleaning of 70 years worth of grime, I went to shoot it. And it shot like a dream. Now I have a couple of questions that I haven't been able to find answers for. First, is the sights. This one has a silver front bead with no hood. I'm not sure if it should have had a hood or not. Also, the rear sight is just the standard Marlin open sight. But for some reason, I thought that it should have had the folding buckhorn. Third, the bolt has obviously been dropped at some point and has been smashed in on the back corner (you can maybe see it in the picture). This doesn't affect the mechanics. But it bugs me a bit for cosmetic reasons. My question is, Can any pre safety 39a bolt be swapped in? I know there were several variations of firing pins. But I can't determine if the bolt itself changed to accommodate them. Thanks in advance. Glad I found this forum. I'm sure I will learn a lot around here.
After a rigorous cleaning of 70 years worth of grime, I went to shoot it. And it shot like a dream. Now I have a couple of questions that I haven't been able to find answers for. First, is the sights. This one has a silver front bead with no hood. I'm not sure if it should have had a hood or not. Also, the rear sight is just the standard Marlin open sight. But for some reason, I thought that it should have had the folding buckhorn. Third, the bolt has obviously been dropped at some point and has been smashed in on the back corner (you can maybe see it in the picture). This doesn't affect the mechanics. But it bugs me a bit for cosmetic reasons. My question is, Can any pre safety 39a bolt be swapped in? I know there were several variations of firing pins. But I can't determine if the bolt itself changed to accommodate them. Thanks in advance. Glad I found this forum. I'm sure I will learn a lot around here.