Good afternoon,

A friend of mine who's wife wanted his friearms out of the house just sold me a Marlin model 39 .22 S, L and LR for $100. He sold it to me because I am a shooter and a product designer for a local firearms manufacterer, but I am far from a expert on old firearms.

It has an octagon barrel, has a case colored receiver and a takedown screw on the right side of the receiver. The case colors are fading on the right side, but the left side is beautiful. The barrel retains musch of it's original bluing, but has spots of light rust with no pitting. The mag tube is the same. The bore is shiny and rifling is strong. The wood has dings and scratches but no cracks. The screw on the left side of the forend cap is missing. The remaining screw heads aren't buggered up. It does not have a "star" on the tang, which I was told is a symbol of higher quality rifles. Overall, I guess I'd rate it about 60%.

I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. First is date of manufacture - serial number is 16XX. I thought these were made from 1922-1938, but I can't find serial number dates anywhere. Second is value - was this any kind of a bargain? Third is if I clean the rust up with Flitz, will that affect value, or should I just wipe her down with some Kroil? Do you know where I might be able to find an original screw for the forend cap? Lastly, is this only safe with standard velocity ammo?

It's a neat little rifle and a great piece of old world craftsmanship. It will make a nice addition to my collection.

Thanks for your time and have an excellent weekend. Your insight and knowledge is greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum sentinel. Rules are simple, be nice and join in.

As far as an evaluation, it's pretty hard to do without seeing and handling your rifle. Along with that values will differ in different parts of the country. Best I can say is check some of the auction sites and see if you can find a few simular to yours or get it professionally evaluated.

As for parts you might check out Numrich Arms, they are the premier parts supplier for out of production guns in this country. Here's their address.

Firearm Parts and Accessories | Numrich Gun Parts Corp. | e-GunParts.com (http://www.e-gunparts.com/dept.asp)

As for cleanup, I've cleaned up minor rust with steel wool and Kroil, but it may effect the value of the gun. As for shooting it, the 39 is a very strong action and I'd think that you could shoot any 22 ammo on the market. I would stay away from CCI Stinger ammo or any of the enhanced 22 ammo that has longer cases than standard and high velocity 22 ammo as these have longer cases and many older guns are not equipped with a chamber deep enough to chamber these without pressure problems.

Thanks for the info Bob. I greatly appreciate it.

Good afternoon,


I have a couple of questions if you don't mind. First is date of manufacture - serial number is 16XX. I thought these were made from 1922-1938, but I can't find serial number dates anywhere.

I few things here. (I have a Marlin Arms history book copy right 1988). They had a ivory front sight bead from 1922 to 1934 and from 35 to 38 it was silver. I have serial number ranges of that gun. First one sold in 1922 was #1002 so I would place that gun as a 1922 model or 1923 at latest. THe very earliest ones were in the 1002 to 12,959 range. Then they were made in the S696 to S16,135 and then lastly in the HS456 to HS18,784 range in the 1922 to 1938 time period. Furthermore Marlin warn STRONGLY against using HiSpeed 22 ammo in any 39 i a 1002-12,959 and S696 to S16,135 range. The bolt were prone to crack with HiSpeed ammo. The HS and later models have a improved bolt. Also note worthy is that Marline change the ejector on the 39 some time around late 1923 or 1924. THe applied for the patent for this new ejector in July 1923 and it was approved in March 1926 but they used it before then but records are not clear as to when.

Again, you have received the wrong info on the safety of that gun and it IS NOT APPROVED BY MARLIN for use with HiSpeed ammo as someone else wrongly suggested. With any old firearm, you cannot safely assume that even in a 22 that any ammo is safe in them.

I was wondering what the white on the front sight was. So I guess it's ivory?

I have posted pics of this on The High Road as I got my hand slapped by the moderator for being a newbie and asking about the value of this rifle. You have my apologies.

From what I've learned so far, this rifle could have a value above and beyond $2,000. When I mentioned this to my neighbor, he said he didn't care - he just wanted his wife off his back about the guns his grandfather left him. I'm getting him a case of beer and grilling him a fat T-bone.

Thanks for all your help, cooperation and understanding. I appreciate your time.

It is certainly worth a heap more than 100 bucks. It is not a good idea to shoot the hi-speed shells in as mentioned as the bolts were prone to failure in the early 39's. As far as my wife making me get rid of my grandpa's, or any other of my guns for that matter. The divorce judge would have to rule on that. I have had a bunch of these a lot longer than I had her, and several were given to me by my family.

You done very well on the Marlin.

I have a 1950 Model 39A that I bought for 10 bucks over twenty years ago but his deal sure beat mine. Mine was missing the magazine follower but I replaced it with parts from Marlin for about 8 bucks a few years after I bought it. It still a very good accurate shooter.

There is another place that has parts for old marlins that Numrich has been out of for years. Talk with these guys here. They can fix you up with whatever you need.

http://dickwilliamsgunshop.com/

Ihave a marline 39,not sure of date made the sn# is 5814 on person said it was a 39m but it only has 39 stamped on tang,can any one help
Jim

Welcome to the forum.

I'd suggest calling Marlin, that might be the quickest way to get an answer.

Ihave a marline 39,not sure of date made the sn# is 5814 on person said it was a 39m but it only has 39 stamped on tang,can any one help
Jim


There should be a 2 letter code along with the serial number. This will detirmine the date.