The Marlin 39 Club

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Hi, I am a new member. I recently purchased a marlin 39 1897 texan with 20in octagon barrel new and probably paid too much as they are no longer in production. What I really wanted was a 39 tds; this was the ultra shorty version made in the 80's and identical to my 1897 from the receiver back . I lucked out. I have a friend who was able to get a 39 tds 16in barrel with sights, tubular mag and forearm new from marlin for next to nothing. So off with the old and on with the new. Probably think I'm crazy for doing this, but I was not thrilled with the accuracy of the 20 in octagon barrel of the 1897 texan. It was'nt bad, but much better with the shorter round barrel. Besides, it is easy to remove and replace the barrels on these rifles and I can always convert it back to it's original state. By the way, this rifle has the checkered straight grip stock with of course, the straight tang receiver.

Dear MG, I have safely performed this operation on almost every 22 I have ever owned and never had a problem. In fact, I did this to my new 39 mentioned above before I ever took it out shooting and works great.
 
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Welcome Gunpac!

I too have been guilty of driving up the prices on the Model 39/1897. Paid a ransom for my first Mountie...:eek: I like it so much I wouldn't sell it for three times what I paid for it.

My TDS was a good shooter but a little more finnicky about ammo than my other Model 39s. Luckilly one of its ammo preferences was the inexpensive Federal Bulk ammo.

I sure would like to find a 1897 with the octagon barrel although your modification (in reverse) sounds like given the right circumstances converting one of my Mounties might be feasible.... hmmm, I wonder if Marlin sells the barrels? I know they do a "Cowboy" conversion on the 336's....

Look forward to reading the range reports with your 1894/TDS hybrid.
 
Hi JustsayMo,

I can't say whether Marlin makes or sells the octagon barrels anymore, but I have to assume they must have spares on hand for any warranty repairs to previous production models. If not, there is an outfit in Pittsburgh that makes almost any gun barrel cheap. I used to do mauser 98 conversions years ago and was recently told by a friend, they were still in business. I'll get their contact info soon and let you know. You have to keep in mind that the forearm and cap will also need to be replaced or the old modified.

By the way, talking about this got me away from house repairs and out at the range today. It's funny but the cheap federal ammo is exactly what my 1897 to TDS conversion loves. Had 1.5 inch groups at 50 yds. I had to use CCI stinger ammo for accuracy with the previous 20 inch octagon barrel. Thats why I was'nt thrilled with the accuracy. By the way, I'm not an accuracy junkie as long as It's good enough to get bunnies with CCI CB shorts as where I hunt is legal but I still have to keep the noise down a bit.

I love this site, I'll get that barrel factory's name soon as it's been years since I've done business with them and I just can't quite remember their name.
 
Shooting this gun puts a smile on my face

When I was in high school my father gifted me a new Golden 39A for Christmas. At that time in my life I was into offroading and trucks, knowing little of guns and how much fun they can be. We took it shooting once, and I didn't care much (absurd, huh!). I imagine the experience was not especially rewarding because I was there with my dad, and during that time period as a late teenager, I wanted space and independence from dad. Transitioning six years later in my last year of college I stumbled across gun forums, spending quite a bit of time reading all about guns, their usages and specifications. I quickly became absorbed in the material, reading the forums during much of my free time. After graduating this year, I headed home and in my parents house, on the wall was my dad's Taurus 72 and my 39. Months earlier, while browsing posts about rifles, I noticed a post discussing the 39. People wrote of their high regard for such a fine rifle. All those years in college I didn't realize what a gold mine my dad had given to me that Christmas day when he handed me the 39. After studying the long and storied history of the 39, I saw it hanging on the wall in a new light. What a beautiful gun. I appreciated its history and lines, walnut stock. That was a few weeks ago. Yesterday, my dad and I went to the local indoor range with the 39 and his 1911. First we shot the 1911. While incredibly satisfying the 1911 was to shoot, with fifty rounds of ammo, the semi-auto ate them quickly. Next I grabbed the 39. Dad showed me how to hold it properly. We set the targets out to sixty feet. I took aim and fired. After firing the semi-auto with less than ten rounds in the magazine, it seemed a long time before I emptied all nineteen rounds in the 39, a good feeling. What fun it was to operate the lever when ejecting the casing. While I was about halfway through my first set of nineteen rounds, I could clearly hear the shooter in the lane to the left of us say "What gun is that?" with an interested sound in his voice. Nice! When we got home, dad demonstrated how to clean it properly, and we spent the next couple hours listening to music while making the inside and outside of the 39 shiny again. I enjoyed cleaning it, and now I plan on doing so after every visit to the range. I told dad that shooting the 39 and 1911 yesterday was one of the rare times for me when realization was even greater and more rewarding than anticipation. This is my only firearm so far, but it is definitely a good one.
 
Dueler's offspring (not sure if son or daughter), very fine story. Thanks for sharing here.

I think it represents eloquently for a lot of us how we feel about 39's, and levers in general. Just something about them that one can only understand - let alone appreciate - after you've fired one for a while.

Welcome to both and your dad.
Hope you both hang out with us.

Do you have a THR account of your own?
If so, it'd be cool to login with it,
and repost your story.
No problem doing it the way you did it.
That's cool, especially since you let us know.
But we'd like to say howdy to you as well,
and know your user name. No pressure,
but if you're into it ...

If not, you should register.
We can always use more good writers. ;)

Nem, who is going to put his 39A firing pin back in tonight,
and take it to the gunsmith to have that FTF issue resolved ...
because I miss shooting that little rifle, and I've got some time coming...
 
Thanks for the compliment Nem. I am Steve's (Steverino) son. We happen to share the same computer. I didn't see that I was on his account until I posted a message. I do enjoy reading the words of knowledge and wisdom THR members are able to bring to the site with their comments and stories.
 
Oh, OK, got it! ;)

I mistakenly thought you meant that
you had posted under your dad's user name.
Now I understand that Dueler is your user name. ;)

Yeah, I agree that THR is a special place with
a LOT of fine folks with great stories.
I feel privileged to be learning here.
 
39A-ville: are we worth our salt?

Do we deserve "club" status?

Question posed here needs advice.

So, I pulled my Marlin 39A out tonight to play with, and I noticed that the lever is loose. What I mean by that is, the lever will drop about a quarter inch or so down from the stock, regardless if it is cocked, not cocked or half cocked. I don't remember it doing this the last time I had it out, although it very well might have. Anyway, is this normal, or something that needs to be fixed?
Click to expand...
 
Two weeks ago took my repaired 39a to the range, the first fifty rounds were extracted with out any problems than started to get FTE again. Had to leave because it started to storm so I will clean the camber and try it again today at the 4TH of July picnic, If it keeps up I’ll fill pretty bad when I, cut it in half just before it gets thrown in to the pound.
 
39A-ville: are we worth our salt?

Do we deserve "club" status?
Click to expand...
And the answer to those silly questions, once again, is an unequivocal and resounding "yes"! ;)

Two members have already visited the thread to offer aid. :cool:
 
If it keeps up I’ll fill pretty bad when I, cut it in half just before it gets thrown in to the pound.
Click to expand...
Yikes!

Bro, if it comes to that, please let one of us know. I'd happily pay shipping and FFL charges and adopt that little rifle to prevent it from getting cut in half.

A good smith - or Marlin if you ship it back to them - should be able to remedy that problem.

Admittedly it's a shame that there's a problem, but no need to go to extremes. :uhoh:
 
Rollis

Please don't throw or cut that rifle. If you can't figure out the problem, take it to a smith! Try cleaning it first and see if that takes care of the FTE. I've had some of that before and the cleaning did the trick. Any smith will be able to take you from there to a magnificent weapon.

If I could only keep one of my rifles, most of which are levers, I'd had to save the 39A for many reasons. PLEASE DON'T CUT OR THROW IT!
 
Marble's Peep tang question

I've been searching around, but I haven't found the answer I was seeking.

I want a Marble's tang, but have concerns about it obscuring or drilling through the serial number (obvious no-no) What is the proper way to measure your tang and it's serial to see if it is ok.

From marble's website there are instructions specific to the 39AS, but if you don't have a rebounding hammer you have the 39A, correct? In that case it should go on no problem?

I don't want to order it and have to mail it back to Midway or Brownell's just to figure this out.

Thanks!
 
Fear not gentlemen a little bit of sarcasm to lighten up my mood, I, would never cut the gun in half, the metal much too thick and I would get bored about half way through.
The fact of the matter is that I’ll do what ever it takes to get it running right. The picnic went well but was subdue because everyone was tired from moving furniture and the fact that we shot the ashes of a very good friend off into the field. No Nem. You can’t have it.:neener:
 
I'm new to this forum and thread AND have questions!

I'm still figuring out how THR works. Is the Marlin 39A Club an eternal thread? Just reply to the last post?

Anyway I just bought a Marlin 39A with a G prefix (made in 1950) for $379. Right now I'm refinishing the wood waiting for my AGI Guide so I can completely take it down and re-blue the metal.

Is there anything I should know specific to this model before I get started?

Are there any specific materials on the web for specific versions of the 39A?

Lastly, there are two holes in the tang drilled, tapped, and plugged with what look like are original screws (just like the scope mount screws). It looks like it came setup for a tang sight. Anyone know for sure? Or which tang sights fit it? I'd love to add a tang sight without drilling a new hole.
 
Looks like this Marlin thread is eternal, or until it gets so big it's unwieldy.

Your Marlin is drilled and tapped for standard tang sights.
Brownell's sell several models as does Midway:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=23385

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=8835&title=TANG+SIGHTS

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/store/ProductDetail.aspx?p=7961&title=NO.+2+TANG+SIGHT (Not sure this one fits the factory holes).

There are also other tang sights around at varying prices.

The Marlin 39 has changed VERY little over the years since the 1890's, and the various versions are simply the same design with various length barrels and other cosmetic changes.

You really don't need to know much beyond disassembly since the rifle is a straight-forward design.

About the only thing extra is the fact that the ejector assembly has a slotted head rivet that is used to lock the ejector down for cleaning of the bore.
Here's a link to an online owner's manual that explains that:
http://www.stevespages.com/page7b.htm

When disassembling and reassembling for refinishing, the "watch-outs" are the screws that hold the forearm tip on. These are usually VERY difficult to get properly restarted, and it's very easy to get them cross threaded.

The other problem is the hammer spring and guide rod assembly.
The best way to do that, is to cock the hammer and pull it back as far as possible, then clamp a very small pair of Vise-Grips on the guide and against the spring.

Then, remove the hammer screw, and push the guide rod pin out of the hammer FROM THE RIGHT SIDE.
There isn't enough room to push it out from the left, and you usually can't get the guide to release.
Pushing from the RIGHT side is difficult but "usually" works better.

After the pin is moved enough to release the guide, you have to work the hammer forward enough to allow working the guide rod, mainspring, and the adjusting plate to the RIGHT and out of the receiver.

Note the notches in the receiver tangs which allow moving the mainspring retaining plate forward and back to adjust the trigger pull.
 
39A

I have 2-39A Marlins. The first one I paid $104 for in the early 70's and second I just got off the classifieds on RFC for $450 with a leupold 2X7 RF scope. Both are great shooters. The older one was my squirrel rifle for years, it now retired and the newer one has taken its place.
 
I am a new member of the "39" Club. I traded for a Marlin 39A yesterday. I haven't been able to check the serial number yet, but I was told it was a 1962 vintage. It is in super shape, and I am very excited to shoot it.
 
New to this forum. I ran across a 39a, ser. no, B 68xx. It has case color receiver. Allmost mint condition. Stunning rifle. I can't seem to nail down the year of manufacture. I know it is pre micro groove. Did early 39a's come with case color receivers? I was told that it is not restored and belonged to the same gentleman since he was a child. Any help would be appreciated.
 
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