The Marlin 39 Club

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<laughter>

Out behind the dumpster, eh?

Was there plinking going on with the rats around the dumpster? :D

Sorry I'm not carrying my share of the load in the club house, folks.
It'll be that way for a few weeks, unfortunately.
I'm starting a MAJOR new project in my business next week. :eek: :eek: :eek:

I'll be lucky to come up for air about once a day. :uhoh:

You folks have fun plinking the dumpster trash ... ;)

Nem, p. 30
 
39a Williams receiver sight

G day from Australia this is my first post and I would love to join the 39a club. I have recently purchased a 39a golden 1964, I am looking at putting a Williams receiver sight on it and have found that in the FP series you can get top mount or a side mount. Is one better than the other? My rifle has top and side mount holes. I would appreciate any help or ideas on this.
Thank you
PS .I have read all 30 pages of this post and have found it very satisfying and it has made me feal a lot better about spending $600AU on a 43 year old rimfire (new over hear a 39AS cost $1025AU)
Thanks again
 
The Williams top mount is designed for more modern rifles which are not drilled and tapped for receiver sights.
They use the screws on top intended for mounting a scope mount.

Personally, I think the side mount Williams is a somewhat neater, more compact design.
The top mount has a lot more bulk.

On my Williams 5D (non-target model), I found it to stick out to the Right quite a bit, so after sighting in, I cut away some of the excess metal on the right to make it more compact and less likely to get bumped.

The Williams Foolproof model with the target "click" adjustments will stick out to the right quite a bit due to the windage assembly.

Like most sight makers, Williams seems to make one top section of the sight, and many bases to fit a wide variety of rifles.
Because of this, some very thin rifles like the Marlin 39 will allow the top of the sight to be somewhat wider than needed.
 
Had good luck at a gun show today, and came home with a 1950 39A in exc. shape for $275. I rarely, if ever, find good deals at the local shows, so this was a real treat. There is a white spacer at the butt, so I have a feeling the buttplate has been replaced. The fact that it is so well fitted though makes me wonder. Can someone either describe or post a photo of the proper buttplate for a 1950 39A?

Thanks for the help!
 
The butt plate should not have a white spacer on a 1950 39-A.

The butt plate is said to be a "Fiber plate" which looks like hard rubber or plastic.
Mine MAY have been replaced too, but it has a small area at the top around the top screw that's smooth.
The rest of the plate is molded checkering with a circle around the lower screw.
The work "MARLIN" is sideways on the center of the checkered area.
 
Thanks for the info dfaris. Maybe you would be so kind as to weigh in on another39-A question. On the same 1950 39A, the shells don't eject when they should, and as far as I can tell, it is due to the ejector coming up prematurely and bumping the case before the spring can do its job. If I press on the bolt to keep it tight in the receiver while working the action, the shell pops out as it should. My guess is that something is slightly out of spec, and the bolt is moving laterally more than it should, or maybe the part of the ejector that rides in the groove on the left side of the bolt is shorter than it should be. The rifle isn't worn enough for me to believe that this is the result of thousands and thousands of rounds cycling through, so if there is something I should tweak before I swap any parts, please let me know.

Thanks in advance,
Todd
 
MP,

I apologize if you know this already....

I've found that the tightness of the receiver affects the action. The big knurled takedown knob on the right hand of the receiver can be tightened or loosened, jamming the parts together too hard, letting everything too loose or Goldilocks "just right".

The last time I had mine apart I played with the tightness (over, I dunno, maybe 1/16 of a revolution, maybe less?) - tighten it, work the action - loosen it, work the action, repeat until I found a sweet spot where everything seemed tight but sliding nice and smoothly.
 
That's a tough one to diagnose sight unseen.

Generally the rifle can't eject too soon, unless the extractor is worn or defective.
The ejector pops up when the bolt clears it and not before.

I'd take Slugless's suggestion and make sure the receiver screw is tight.

Next, try giving the rifle and especially the bolt a good deep cleaning and apply fresh lube.

If it still gives problems, I'd take it to a gunsmith who can look at it and find the problem.
 
Thanks for the info, guys. I compared the ejector to three other 39A ejectors, and it is about 2/16" shorter at the "thumb" (whatever that piece is that makes contact with the bolt). What appears to be happening is that the shorter height of this part of the ejector is allowing the front end to rise up prematurely and make contact with the cartridge rim before its supposed to. When I get a chance, I'll swap out the ejectors and see if that fixes the problem.
 
Okay Frank, I'll bite.

Is my 39A a Mountie? It's a 20" barrel, straight stock, 1957 (P series S/N) but is stamped 39A. Is it an early Mountie or something?

I have a harder time figuring out what to do with my shooting hand fingers on this rifle than on a pistol grip 39A. In fact, I don't think about it with a standard 39A. Now I just use 2 fingers in the lever, pinkie out.

Despite that, it sure is a handy little carbine.

Marlin39aplanview.gif
 
How'd you know it was a sweet shooter, Frank?

I sure wish I could shoot as well as the rifle.

I was practicing today for the postcard shootout, using the classic offhand shooter's stance. http://www.smallbore.us/readarticle.php?article_id=6

One of the range officers came up to me and offered a few suggestions. Basically he showed me the current GI stance, 45 deg to the body using a handy sling. I had tried it before but wasn't doing it quite right. I stuck with the new stance long enough to bring the groups in tighter.

This is 25 yds offhand. Ignore the one flyer. That 3 round group on the top target is good enough for the postcard match.

Marlin25ydoffsm.jpg
 
Late to the Party

As mentioned in my "Welcome To North Idaho" thread in GGD, I am now the proud owner of a Marlin 39A "Golden" (circa '60s or '70s).

Standing up:
attachment.php


Closer to Receiver:
attachment.php

​

It would have been a Mounty, but the shop owner in Reno decided to keep it for himself. It sat on the rack for at least four months, then when I got the bucks, I call in and ask if it's still there. "Sorry, Joe took it home; he's gonna have it re-blued and keep it."

This one comes from Northerwestern Pony Express in Coeur d'Alene.
 
<Takes five minute break from work in an intensely busy week ...>

Great to see you in the clubhouse, Arf. Welcome in. Never too late.
(We don't seem to be on much of a tight schedule around here ...
only occasional deadlines for shootin' matches and 3x5 season ...)

And you brought along a fine looking rifle, too. Congrats on that one.
Condolences on the Mounty. But I'll bet starting with a full 39 to get the basic feel of it,
then picking up a Mountie later could be just the ticket. (OK, maybe not, who knows?
but just trying to make you feel better about the unfortunate timing ... )

Hope Idaho is treating you well. Know that I'm somewhat envious of where you're living ...

<Heads back to work, wishing he was cleaning his 39 after a day at the range instead ...
Hey, even wishing he had his 39 back from the smith ... it's been over 4 months now ...>
 
Speaking of bumps, I think the gun smith that has my 39A deserves one.

This is ridiculous. He's had it since July. The problem couldn't be that difficult.

I suspect I'll call him this week and just go get it. He seemed like a nice guy, and came highly recommended. But this much time for repair is just unreasonable.
 
The long wait

Nem

Did you ever think your gunsmith has fixed it and is just testing it with
a "few thousand rounds of ammo" before returning it.:evil: Maybe he
just likes it and don't want to give it up.;) Or maybe he is secretly
entered in the post card match under an assumed name:neener: and
doesn't want to give it back till after he wins:)

Rim45
 
Rim45, it's a reasonable hypothesis.

Frank, with what I face in the next three days (read "scary busy"), and since my truck isn't running well enough to get me all the way to my range (which is a long drive), I'll unfortunately probably have to participate in the next 3x5 match.

And it's too bad, too, since I know I'm a better shot that all of you. :neener:

(Only joking; I'd probably be doing well to hit the card. I haven't even really got the 39 properly sighted in yet. Was trying to when this FTF issue came up.)
 
Reading around on THR, I see threads regarding lead bullets are usually a no-no for Marlin Micro-groove barrels. These posts seemed to center on centerfire (so to speak) Only once do I recall someone making that statement about rimfires.

So how about it for the 39A? Are lead bullets a bad idea?

I can think of a couple things:

1. Fit in the barrel (seems to be the centerfire issue?)
2. Lube
3. More easily deformed/bunged up by the action than flashed bullets
 
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