The Marlin 39 Club

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Finally got a 39 after 12 years looking

I shot a friend's in college and fell in love with it. I didn't want a new model so I've just kept my eye out in the local shops (haven't wanted to use gunbroker yet) in IN, KY and GA as I've moved around. I made weekly trips to a local shop in GA, always with a eye on the used lever guns. Then last week I saw it; that glint of brass on the tubular magazine that screamed rimfire. The serial number indicated manufacture in 1979. The outside of the barrel had a few spots of rust but nothing unmanageable. I anxiously examied the bore with my Novatac 120P only to see a lot of dust. After having a clerk pull a boresnake through I took a second look; nice and shiny. I walked out with the rifle for $380, which is not a great price. But after looking online and waiting so long to find one I didn't feel ripped off.

When I got home I immediately downloaded a manual and disassembled the gun per the instructions. I cleaned it well and lubricated it lightly, preparing for a range session the following day. Then my wife, having no experience with a lever gun, wanted to see it work. I loaded 5 dummy long rifle rounds and worked the lever once, then again. Nothing exited the ejection port. I moved the lever again while looking into the action. I could see no bullet. Not being greatly knowledgeable about lever guns, I froze for a moment. Then I tipped the gun upside down and sure enough, a loose round. The bullets were not lifting to the breech. I dismantled the rifle again and took a closer look. The schematic in my downloaded manual wasn't much help but there appeared to be piece of metal sheared off of a part in the carrier assembly. I got worried and drove back the gun store to explain the situation. They were very receptive and promised to make good on it.

Now my new rifle is at a gunsmith. I'm hoping it's an easy fix and I'm shooting it within a few weeks. If this has all been a big tease I will be supremely disappointed. It's a Golden model so I was looking forward to mounting a brass Skinner rear sight on it. I think it will look nice with the trigger.

Sorry for being so wordy.
 
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My dad bought a brand new one for me on my 8th birthday when Gibson's in Athens, Texas was closing out back in the seventies. It was a golden 39a and he paid $150.00. At the same time, he bought a used (but in mint condition) Centennial Edition 30-30 with the Medallion mounted in the stock from one of the guys that was going to lose his job there and needed the money. I think he paid $150.00 for it also. He saved it to give to me on Christmas day when I was 12. My dad has passed on now, and everytime I shoot them, it brings back some great memories.
 
Tailwind, Photo and Tree, welcome to the club. And Tree, welcome to THR.

Great intro stories. Any pics? :)
___________

Hey, has Marlin ever produced a rifle in .22 mag?

I've been bitten by the .22 mag bug, and am starting to research it with
an eye to filling the gap (eventually) between my .22 LR and an (eventual) AR in .223.

Towards that end, I've created a new thread in GGD about .22 mag.
If you have knowledge or interest, come on by.
 
Well, my '84 Marlin Papoose was feeling a little lonely surrounded by all the Winchesters, Remingtons, Tauri & Erma, so about 3 weeks ago I was in my local toy store & the manager said he had a Golden 39A he would give me a deal on.
He probably got it cheap for a project gun. It's a 1980, blueing is not the greatest but the bore is good & it's mechanically sound, action as smooth as butter.
Furniture has been replaced with the cut checkered wood. It had a Weaver scope base mounted & I slapped on an older Weaver fixed 4x scope that came off of a Remington 592M 5mm rimfire mag I bought at the same place (I think I pay their salaries).
It shoots great & eats anything.
"Where have you been all my life."
$250 OTD.
 

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Nice looking rifle, Hud. Welcome in. We appreciate pics.

Looks like it can use a bit of blue care,
but if it shoots good ...
 
Been reding as a guest for some time and finally joined................Most recent gun purchase is a brand new Marlin 39a, hence the interest in this particular thread. My first 22 gun purchase in 35 years!! Sadly ammo accessability in local stores and pricing everywhere else "ain't like it used to be"....but what is 'eh? Unfortunately sold my BL22 some years back, and chose the 39a for a new purchase based partly upon this thread. Seems well made and beefy, two things I like in a gun, and my 336SS in 30-30 is still my favorite rifle. Having said that, I was reading backwards and saw at least one member who had some difficulty shooting unplated or nonclad bullets and was curious as to whether that is a common experience with others or an oddity. I know most guns shoot, in fact all of mine, handguns and rifles alike seem, to prefer one brand or particular handload over another. But find it odd that a 22 would malfunction, not just suffer, say, accuracy as a result of shooting clad vs non-clad bullets from a quality bullet manfacturer and actually have misfeeds or jams. I guess I will find out tomorrow when I head north to our hunting lease and I get the opportunity to shoot mine. And don't you know after hitting a half dozen stores, including Bass Pro, independent Gun shops and even Walmart, the only ammo I was able to find was non-clad 22 longs! So sad that a store like Bass Pro can't even sell you ammo for a gun the day you buy it. Guess that is how the State of Florida imposes a "cooling off period" for someone with a concealed permit. Thanx for the great thread, and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!
 
Seaquester, welcome to the club and to THR.

I think we can all relate to the ammo availability issue. I've managed to keep mine running by buying whenever I come across it even though the price has doubled in recent times. I can only imagine your frustration of a new rifle and no ammo to use in it.

I've owned four Marlin 39's and only one (a TDS) is what I would consider finicky. Luckily it seemed to prefer the cheap stuff, it also shot CCI CB Longs and a few other odd ball ammos well too. The ammo it liked it like a lot. The ammo it didn't like it hated. No in between with that little carbine.

The others - two Mounties and the ubiquitous 24" pistol gripped variety seem to shoot everything as well as I'm capable of. There is a slight improvement using premium ammo that is mainly evident in fewer fliers. All variety and shapes - even empty cases - cycle through my 39's. Most of my shooting these days is on steel silhouettes or at Grouse. When I shoot paper it is usually to confirm zero at a certain range or to get repetitions.

Good luck finding some ammo. Let us know how it goes.
 
hello all i am new to your site and have read a lot of interesting threads but i still have not found any info on my 39m it says its an [original golden 39m] and the serial# is [22259***] it has a straihgt stock and the # is on top of the tang with a 20" barrel and no checkering, rather than my other one that only says [golden 39a] and has a 24" barrel and pistol grip with no checkering and a thicker fore end and the #is under the lever and is [v216**] i think it is a 61 or 62 but i can't find anything on the first one can anyone help me on the date and value on both guns? if forgot to mention under the hammer on the original is stamped is a 2 and a sideways 8.and theother one is stamped with a diaginal u and t but they are stamped different directions.
any info would be greatly appriciated
thank you
james
 
The Mountie sounds like it is a 1978 vintage. Value... Depends on condition. I've never seen one around here for less than $400 unless it was rode hard and put away wet.
 
I'm not a Marlin collector, but I've enjoyed this thread and the nice pictures.
Attached is an old Marlin 39 that I've had for more years than I can remember, it was a hand-me-down. Haven't used it much so the blueing and case colors look like new. What I think makes this rifle especially interesting is the original Marlin mounted scope and even the scope box that came with the rifle.
 

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hey mo thanks for the info is there a sight or book that can be bought that will tell mf dates on all makers? i have several older 700 bdl's and other guns i would like to know more about. back to the original 39a if i had to guess i would say 80-90%.
thank you
james
 
Just stumbled into the site while looking for a front sight hood for my 1956-vintage 39A (pre-tricky colored trigger, thank you). It was my first gun, given me by my Dad for my 12th Birthday. I guess nowadays they'd lock him up and have me checked for psychologicl trauma of some description. Sigh.
Anyone got a spare early sight hood? The late ones don't fit and look bad to me.
 
Need some advice. Just picked up a "Century Limited" that looks like it had been a 39 year safe queen. I want (need!) to shoot it w/ my 3 boys ... I put Skinner sights on it so the boys can learn w/ a gun similar to the 336 that they'll eventually graduate to. So I want the 39CL to be a shooter but I don't want to bung up the wood too much & have the gun lose all it's value. The CL stock looks like a Mountie to me; it just has a brass plate on the side and a brass butt plate. I'm interested in changing out the original CL wood with an after-market stock/foreend, but am having a hard time finding anything online. Thanks for any suggestions.
 
Well, I finally got the opportunity to shoot my brand new Model 39a when I arrived at my hunting camp in Georgia on 11/27 and.........I am happy to report 22 lr ammo was more readily available and considerably cheaper in Georgia than Florida. I shot several hundred rounds at both paper and metal targets. What a ton of fun!! Did not take long though to realize several things...........at 25-50 yards this gun shoots very well and very close to zero. Beyond that range my 62 yr old eyes can't focus on the front and rear sights and the target at the same time.So.........I have decided to opt for a scope, I know some will think that is blasphemy...........however.....
what is the most common distance to zero a 22lr with a scope? I will find it fun to shoot a small triangle off a target with 3 rounds at a good distance, like I did as a kid at short distance with gallery guns and iron sights at the Fairgrounds. I have to say I really fell in love with this Marlin quickly, and wish I had one from years ago, but, this one will find a great deal of use from me from now on........and heck, it's cheap to shoot when you can find the ammo!!
 
model 39tds front end.

I've gathered most of the parts for the TDS short barrel front end. I am only missing the left hand side of the receiver.

I am having to cut down a standard inner mag tube assembly so that it will work with the TDS's short barrel. I believe I have the proper outer magazine tube.

Can anyone with a TDS possibly measure the inner magazine tube for me? From the beginning of the brass to the knurled knob.

A Marlin rep said to send in the parts with a note saying what I was trying to do and the shop may do it for me. The receiver is a factory only part and so far I have not been able to find one from a gun shop.

I need to get the magazine tube done before I send it in. I am hoping they will assemble my parts on a left side receiver (The right side has the serial number) but i don't think they will change the tube so I need to do that.

Thank You
Steven
 
Getting closer to having a Marlin 39. I own a few marlin semi auto rimfires and they are all good shooters for me as well as an 1894 in .357 I like a lot. I was not sure what the big deal was about the marlin 39, reading posts here got me interested enough go look and I have been interested in for a while. Once a year back I even decided to buy a used one from a local show, but by the time I left found an ATM & got back, the show was history, and I had not bothered with getting the sellers name.

Last weekend I decided it was time to start looking for an EBR or least at a lower or upper to get started. I went to a new gun show in my area expecting to see the usual tables plentious with civillianized ca neutered copies of grunt gun. ( I went to the atm before going to the show finally ) First gun show I ever went to without a single AR in sight! I had noticed a couple of nice looking marlins on a table but out of my budget older ones priced nearly the same the brand new.

One was called a mounty, and I really like that style and it looked nearly new. Asking price was 575 which would have been nearly 100$ more with tax, when I was ready to call it a day and leave anyway, I asked the dealer how low he was willing to go on the marlins I fully expected him go down 10 or 20 bucks follows by my no thanks as a walked away. When he told me he would accept 500 inc tax for the mounty if I paid dros, making for a total of 525.

I now own a Newish looking Marlin39 mounty ( Made in 1964 according to Marlin Cust svc). I will have it in a about nother week when the waiting period winds down.

Maby I overpaid, but if the gun shoots as good as it looks, I can live with that.

I really do like the looks and balance straight stock shorter barrel of the 39 mounty better than the newer ones.

I am really looking forward to picking it up.
 
CK,
I'm sitting here w/ a 39-a mountie in my lap that looks exactly like that.
If you look between the loop and trigger guard the flat part that hits the bottom
of the stock is a little higher than the top of the loop .This keeps the loop from contacting the stock. IMHO this is a factory set up and not because of any alterations.
 
Sorry to be so absent from the club house.
(A new love in one's life will do that to a guy. )

Nice to check in and see all is in good hands.

Ice storm here tonight. Glad to have a roof over my head.

Somehow, that 39 hanging over there is comforting in the same way that
the loaded 336 hanging next to it (by their slings) is comforting.

Did I mention the .38 spl snub on my right side?
 
When he told me he would accept 500 inc tax for the mounty if I paid dros, making for a total of 525.
Click to expand...
Ya' done good.

Too high? "High" is a relativistic term.

Money is no object for a nice Mountie.

I'm betting that in 5 years, you'll have long forgotten the price because it'll be irrelevant.
 
Can I join the party? My 39A

Here is my "new to me" 39A. I got it about 3 months ago for $200.
I knew what I was buying and the seller knew what was being sold.
It's at least 98% or better. It doesn't like Federal blue box bulk ammo. I think they're called Champions. It likes the CCI as all of my rifles do. I have had better luck with CCI than all the others combined. Here is a pic. I've never figured how to get a really good picture of it so this is what I have so far.
It is Serial number #691545x.
Can anybody tell me anything when it was born or anything else about it?

100_0594.gif
 
Well, That 39a mountie that i had sitting in my lap last night ,Just became mine.
Weapon had been stored in a shed for who knows how many years . Bbl has no blueing and has surface rust .same for the reciever. Wood is good action seems to be good .
Extractor works fine.
Not a bad buy in my opinon for $100.
Now a ??? can someone tell me Year of manufacture? I tried useing the link to the marlin site but it will not work for me. Serial # R 890***.
Thanks , Bob
 
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