I don't know how many of you are my age (38), but I suspect more than a few. When I was a kid, firearms and ammunition were infinately more available in rural Ohio than they are now, it seemed like every discount/drug/hardware/sporting goods/convenience store had at least a few boxes of .22 ammuntion. Many times they had a rifle/handgun or two to go along with it. Not to be outdone, the major retailers also had a selection of firearms. I remember being about 8 or 9 years old, and looking through the big catalogs we used to get from Sears, and J.C. Penney. There were usually about two or three pages in the sporting goods section that were devoted to firearms. In those days, I was most interested in the .22 rimfire selection (since those were the only firearms I had much/any experience with.) There was at least one page of firearms (half a page as time went on) that was dedicated exclusively .22 rimfire rifles. I remember ruger 10-22s, and Marlin model 60's were represtative samples of the autoloader world. there may have also been a pump action Remington, or a bolt action or two; but the thing I most remember is the Rifle at the top of the page. It was the most expensive one listed. As I recall, about $125 or so. It was also, in my 8 year old view the coolest rifle in the book. It was a Marlin model 39A. It's hard to tell how much time I may have spent looking at the picture of the 39, and imagining myself expertly dispatching groundhogs and desperados alike. Unfortunately, at that age, I had no means of purchasing such a firearm (or any other firearm for that matter). As I grew older, my interest in firearms also grew. However, by the time i could afford to buy my own guns, it seemed there was always something I wanted/needed more than a lever action rimfire. This was especially true after I became a police officer. Okay, flash forward three decades from my catalog veiwing youth. At this point in the game, I'm a Police firearms instructor, former tactical team member/leader, and a trained precision marksman (i.e. sniper) who's spent more hours in firearms related training than most college graduates spend earning their degree. I walk into work last week, and by some sroke of fate, there is a sale flyer from a hunting/fishing/gunshop in another town lying in our dispatch center. I had only ever been to this particular store one time, and that was about 6 years ago. I picked up the flyer, and started sifting through the various firearms that were on sale. In the middle of the second page, I see a list of Marlin rimfires that are discounted and viola, I see 39A's for $359, icing on the cake - 6 months same as cash. The very next day, I made the journey to that store. Shortly thereafter, I became the owner of a very nice new Marlin levergun. I've had the gun now for a few days, and I haven't been able to shoot it nearly as much as I'd like to (which would be almost constantly!). What a pleasant shooting little rifle. Just as much fun as I expected all those years ago. I was curious if any of you long time 39 owners might have any tips regarding sights, or any other modifications/upgrades for this little gem. If so, I'd love to hear them. By the way, somewhere deep inside me, there is an 8 year old boy who's saying YEEEAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!
HRF

Well, congratulations ODP, I envy you. Not for the rifle, I already have a 1897 Texan, but for your luck in being able to fulfill a childhood dream. It is not everyday that people get to accomplish that. Other childhood dreams come to mind (Sophia Loren, Jane Fonda's "Barbarella", Barbara Eden's "Genie") but time and maturity do away with most. (Sophia is still holding her own.) But you can't go wrong with a Marlin 39A! Hope you enjoy it as much as I'm enjoying my 1897T.

Luis

Yes, congrats on a fine rifle!

A 2001 39a was my first rifle three years ago, given to me by my father, as it was his dream as a kid, and he never had one due to the price. My childhood favorite was actually an SMLE for some reason, and I still don't have one. Since then, though, I have swung toward sixguns and leverguns, and my Marlin is the last thing I own that I would give up. Not only is the sentimental value big, but it is one fine rifle. Built like a centerfire, heavy barrel, great accuracy and feels natural for me. I love taking it and a Ruger .22 Single Six out to plink, and have more fun than shooting my surlpus rifles.

I am getting a williams FP sight for mine and possible a taller front post for it to accomodate the sight. I have heard good things about the one ragged hole sights also, from multiple sources. Marbles also makes a good tang sight.

The rifle is certainly accurate enough to wear a scope, but I am not a huge fan of a scopes on leverguns.

The 39 is a good rifle. I bought mine new in 1981 and the thought of selling it has never entered my mind. I had a scope on it for awhile but have since removed it. I like iron sights on lever rifles anyway and I can shoot them well enough that way so I say go with iron!

PS. I used to have childhood dreams about Doris Day! I guess that dates me. :p

PS. I used to have childhood dreams about Doris Day! I guess that dates me. :p

How about Lauren Bacall? :D

I also own and really like a 39A and a couple of variants. Don't have scopes on any of them, but the time is coming. ;)
I do have a receiver peep on the 1897CB.

How about Lauren Bacall? :D


She sure was a foxy thing in those Bogart movies. ;)

congratulations, I know you will not regret it. I have no idea how many lawns i mowed to get mine. I did put a scope on mine, a 2.5 fixed power. my eyes dont allow for open sight much any more. (never did for that matter) no doubt your grandkids will love it as much as you do.

I think a 2.5 scope would be about perfect. I have a Leupold Alaskan in 4x I may try on the 39A. It has a 7/8" tube that should look right on this rifle.

Also some of the shooters are pretty high on the tang mounted peep sights. Lyman makes one and Marble's makes a really nice one. You may have to change out the front sight with either of these.

As stated, these are great rifles that someday your grandchildren will enjoy.

Thanks for all the feedback guys. I finally had a little more time to shoot my 39 on Monday (Not much though as I had to squeeze it into a half hour before I started getting ready for work). I focused my limited trigger time on adjusting the sights. I noticed in my initial shooting that POI was to the right at 25 yards. When I looked at the rear sight, I could see that it was slightly to the right in it's dovetail. Resting the rifle, and shooting on paper, i found it was striking an inch and a half to 2 inches right at 25 yds. A little judicious drifting, and it's dead on. I tried several different types of ammo, all shot groups of about 1 inch at that distance. I'm sure it can do better than that (Not that there's anything wrong with 1 inch groups). This rifle almost begs for a scope, and as a certified accuracy freak I'm fighting the urge to mount one. I think a receiver sight, or even a tang sight is more in keeping with the "flavor" of this rifle. The problem is, I have scopes and rings handy, and since Marlin was nice enough to supply the base, this would be a quick easy job. The receiver/tang sights would have to be ordered which would require 1) money, and 2) a wait. I'm about 75% sure I'll opt for one or the other apeture sights. On my nest outing with the 39A, I want to try it at 50 yards. I know the groups fired with the issued sights are going to open up some. The degree to which this occurs will probably complete my decision as to which sighting option to select. Oh, by the way, did I mention I'm having a BLAST with this rifle. It really is as much fun as I thought it would be all those years ago.
HRF

P.S. don't think you fellas in the "more mature" generation are the only ones who can appreciate the likes of Sophia Loren, or Lauren Bacall. They are most likely the reason video tapes and DVDs were invented for people my age !

"More Mature" Thanks, I like that! :)

Your rifle will get to shooting more accurately with use. Once the action smoothes up and you get used to the trigger, I'm sure your groups will get better. Not that you're shooting poorly now. Quite the contrary. FWIW; All of my Marlin lever rifles seem to shoot best with Federal Lightning ammo.

And if you don't use that scope base right away, put it where you can find it. I've given two of mine away because I thought I'd never use them. :eek: That is a big mistake. Hope you can increase your "trigger time". One of the advantages of being "more mature" is I retired last October. Trigger time increased greatly! Of course I may have to take a part time job just to afford ammo now.

Keep us informed of your progression.

Well I got to shoot my 39 a little more yesterday afternoon. I was shooting it at various distances with a variety of .22 ammunition. At 20 yards, shooting prone without a sling or rest, I litterally shot the 10 ring out of a "Shoot-N-See" target. That was with CCI CB Long ammo. I then backed off to 50 yards and tried three different .22 Long rifle loads. Winchester T22 target, and Federal Classic High Velocity both went into groups of about 1 1/2". The other load was Winchester Super X High Velocity. The first 3 shots from that load went into 1/2". The next shot stayed right in that group. The fifth shot was a flier that opened the gruop to about 1". I should mention that the barrel was getting quite fouled by that point, and I suspect that accounted for the flier (It could have been me too, but all the shots looked/felt good). All this shooting was with the factory issued sights. Maybe not a match rifle, but when I start seeing minute of angle groups (as with the first 4 shots of the Win Super X), I'm quite happy. The rifle has now been meticulously cleaned. When my 19 month old daughter decides to take a nap, I'm going to sneak outside with the model 39 (and a baby moniter), and see how my groups look from the clean barrel. Fortunately I can shoot from 50 yds in my yard. Wish me luck.
HRF

I've always had good, if not spectacular, results with Winchester T-22. It has never been the best shooting in any of my guns, but if I had to choose one load for all of them, T-22 would be it. It is seldom mentioned in forums such as these, and I wonder why. My results with CCI velocitors were abismal. But they seem to work great for some people. Weather maybe? It is always hot here.

Someone left out Veronica Lake, and Ester Williams.

Lee L.

OPD,
2 days ago, I was also able to experience a childhood dream!
When I was about 5 years old, my Dad took my older brother and I "shooting" near my Grandma's house that was up in the woods. The gun? An old, heavy barreled Remington M-512 Sportsmaster. I remember thinking "what an awesome gun". It shot like a dream, but I always loved to watch the westerns because they all had cool-looking lever-action rifles. From that time foreward, I've wanted a lever-action 22. The older I got, the more I studied the different types and about 20 years ago, I decided the Marlin was the absolute best! "PRESENT DAY"...........Northern Idaho.....I am the PROUD owner of a Marlin Model 39A and I'm so excited about it, I'm nearly embarrassed about it....a 45 year old trooper is quivering at the thought of shooting his brand-spankin-new 22 rifle :D :D :D :D
I don't know how to explain it either........
Mine will wear a Leupold 22 Rimfire scope when I scare-up the cash, but until then, it will be the iron sights and I don't mind that a bit....Have a great evening & morning!!!!!!!
Brian

Thanks, Brian. You are right, the strange elation that seems to go hand in hand with purchasing and shooting a firearm that you've thought/dreamed about since childhood is difficult to explain. I really think that in a very "tangible" way, we're tapping into the excitment that we used to feel as children. I don't know about you, but for me, 20 years of Law Enforcement work has taken a bit of a toll on my excitability. Most of the officers I work with would be shocked to see me express a great deal of emotion over most anything. Maybe that's another reason I like this rifle so much; it's good to feel really happy again.
HRF

OPD,
I do think you are right about tapping into that childhood excitement. I called my Dad and we talked for over an hour just after I bought the rifle. Talked about that first time out shooting. He remembered most of what I did. That was neat! And yes, it used to be that I would not get excited about much anything, but that seems to be changing. About 4 years ago, I decided to get my first Lever-gun for hunting and the decision was arrived at in a logical, foundation-building manner that could not be impeached or effected by any exclusionary rule of jurisprudence.... :mad:
I think it was something deep within me that made my choice an 1895 GS 45-70. What does this rifle say to me? "I helped tame the west, fought in wars and now I'm consistently within the top ten calibers purchased. And thats at 130+ years of age. John Wayne carried a lever gun in his westerns...........All the good guys did. Man, all this really takes me back! You're right though.......I've been a badge for 26 years and I'm on my way to begin to experience some of those things I could have and should have, but my life was far too serious because we live in that glass house. In the last 5 or so years, I have just begun to learn.
AND I'm just as excited about that 39A today as I was yesterday :D I plan to keep adding to my lever gun collection and shoot them all.

Hi Guys:
I guess I've been lucky. I didn't have to wait too long to get my 39. I'm hoping that you all know a lot more about it than I do.

I was 5 years old in 1950 and my Father had a Marlin Model 39 hanging on the gun rack in his office, along with an older pump shotgun. (Win. Model 12 I think). I remember the year because it was the year I was the only kid in the family not yet in school. Like all of you.... I wanted that rifle in the worst way.

When I was about eight or nine, my Grandfather came to visit us and on that trip he told me that the Marlin Model 39 had been given to him by a friend of his, that worked for Marlin. His friend had taken one of the larger and more expensive stocks off the larger bore lines, cut it down and mounted it on the Model 39... then he gave it to my Grandfather as a future gift for his son (my Father). My Father was born around 1908, and passed away when I was about 11 (1956). The stock ( I am told by people that know wood) is a Flame Grain Mahogany.

I have now owned the Model 39 since I was 18 and with the advent of the Web, I thought it was time to see what I could find out about this rifle. I don't know if the family "story" is true or not, but see no reason my Grandfather would make it up back then.

When I check the serial number (S 4105) on-line, for lever action guns, it says the gun was manufactured in 1883 (using only the numbers).. which was before the Model 39 was produced, if I understand the history of the Model 39 correctly. The Marlin Site says that the first .22 cal. lever action was produced in 1891.. and today it is still in production as Model 39..39A etc.

Another search of the serial numbers on-line, using the "S".. which I don't believe applies to the lever action rifles (but I'm not sure).. says that the "S" indicates a production date of 1958... which isn't possible either.

Anyone have any information to share, from your research related to the history of the Model 39? ...Like exactly when did the Model 1891 get renamed the Model 39? (that isn't clear no the Marlin Site either). I'm just trying to pin down the date of manufacture... and/or verify the family "story" as true, false, possible, not probable etc. I'm about to pass the rifle and the story on to my son..

BTW -- just got back from the range.. it still shoots as good as it ever did. (too bad I don't;-)

thanks,
Carl

Interesting you should ask about this. I can't tell you when your rifle was manufactured, but I was just reading the model 39's history last night in Col. Brophy's book (which I would highly reccomend). The currently produced model 39 is most directly decended from the model 1897 which was produced from that year until 1915. In 1915, the Marlin company was purchased by another company that wanted to produce machine guns for WWI. So from 1915 to 1922, no sporting firearms were produced. In 1922, the sporting arms portion of the business was purchased by a new owner (I believe the same family still owns the company). The newly formed company began to manufacture the model 39 in 1922. The model 39 was basically identical to the older model 1897. They just gave it a new model number, and continued to use the same design. I'm sure there have been some cost cutting measures taken in the manufacturing process, and of course, the micro groove rifling was added, but basically the model 39A's currently manufactured are still using the same design. In fact, many of the design features can be traced back to the original lever-action repeater offered by Marlin in 1891. Hope this helps.
HRF

Ooops, I was wrong (That's what I get for going from memory). The current owners of Marlin purchased it at a Sheriff's sale in 1924. The purchase price was $100. However, the new owner also incurred a $100,000 mortgage. I'm still working on the serial number. So far, it looks like your 39 was manufactured between 1922 and 1939 (the beginning year of the 39A). When I figure out the beginning date for the "S" , it'll narrow it doan even more.
HRF

OK, in looking closely at the Model 39 section of my book, it looks like I can only narrow your rifle down to a six year period. Some of this is extrapoloation. I'm assuming your rifle has the ejector that can be held down for cleaning by the rotating rivet. That ejector system was patented in 1926 (Although there is no clear record of when it was implemented in the manufacturing process). I think this is the change that resulted in the "S" prefix to the serial number. In 1932, the bolt was changed slightly to make it stronger. This was done to stop a problem of the bolt cracking when "High-Speed" ammunition was used. After that change, the serial number prefix was changed to "HS" (Presumably for High Speed). With the 4000 serial number range of your rifle, I suspect that makes it one of the earlier rifles manufactured after the "S" was added. That would suggest it was manufactured in the late 1920's. Sorry I can't come up with an exact year, but the Marlin serial numbers for this period are reportedly unavailable. It's entirely possible that someone eslse on the forum is more knowledgable than me, and they might be able to give you a more precise date.
HRF

Hello HRF:
I appreciate your taking the time to do the research and send me your findings.

You wrote:
>I'm assuming your rifle has the ejector that can be held down for cleaning
>by the rotating rivet. That ejector system was patented in 1926.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by the above. I've put some pictures of the rifle on my server... maybe that will help. I am unaware of any "rotating rivet". (not saying it doesn't have one, just saying I know nothing about it)
Please see: http://www.becksystems.com/Marlin39/Marlin39.htm

Near the bottom I have a picture of the action and the ejector spring, see what you think.

You Wrote:
>...... In 1932, the bolt was changed slightly to make it stronger. This was done
>to stop a problem of the bolt cracking when "High-Speed" ammunition was used.
>After that change, the serial number prefix was changed to "HS" (Presumably for
>High Speed).

That would indeed be a piece of useful information and good to know. The question came up at the range yesterday as to if we should use High Speed shells... I didn't know, so we stuck with using the standard Long Rifle cartridges.

So if it has the ejector that can be held down for cleaning by the rotating rivet - late 20's and if it doesn't... early 20's. The exact year is not a great deal of concern to me, just would like to get the story for the family as close to correct as possible.

It looks like it's time to have this example re-blued and I believe I'll have the action returned to the original color case hardening (correct term?) that it had. No plans to ever sell it, so "collector" value never has been a consideration... just wanted to keep it in good working order.

Thanks again, you have been a great help.

kind regards,
Carl

I see why you didn't know what I meant when referring to the rotating rivet. Your rifle doesn't have one. If you look at the ejector of a new model 39A, you'll see it. This makes your 39 a fairly early model. It was manufactured between 1922 (The beginning year of the 39 model designation), and about 1926.
HRF

Thanks again HRF:
The picture becomes ever more clear.

kind regards,
Carl