I picked up a nice Marlin 39a the other day, born around 1952. It came with vintage Redfield peep sights. A couple of friends came over and between the Ruger and Remingtons it was the most accurate rifle that day. Nice tight action and feel. Anyone else have one? It has a plug in the rear sight. Don't know if that interfered with the peep sights or not. I'm not familar with the original set up for this fifle.

they are nice rifles. if your ser nr starts with a J it is 52. i've a 1950(birth year) and have had a peep sight on it and had to remove the factory rear sight to use it. enjoy. lee

I have one from 1960 or 61. Of the material possessions I own, it is probably the most precious. I bought it with money I made selling boiled peanuts on the streets of my hometown. I finally put a scope on it when I couldn't see well enough with the iron sights. I once used it to shoot two bantam hens out of a pecan tree they were roosting in when my friends and I failed to catch fish for our camp out. I hope the statue of limitations has expired.

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Georgia On My Mind

i have a 1955 model w/a williams peep sight.
got to be the finest lever .22 ever made, bar none.
the action is butter smooth, the gun is solid and very accurate.
absolutely the very best.

I had one and sad to say I sold it. They are great guns and do shoot much better than a Winchester.

I have a pristine 1965 model...hope to give it to my son Dino one day...but if we stay in Cali too long he may turn into a tree hugging anti...

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Thirty characters. Exactly...

I was really pleased with the rifle. I had just got a 1969 Ruger 10/22 and thought it was nice, but between the two - the Marlin just seems right. I't has a few scratches on the stock but the blueing is at least 92% IMO. I'm thinking about rubbing some oil on the stock to cover the scratches.....it looks to have had an original oil finish stock. Also debating on wheather to put a sling on it.

I am using my Dad's late 1940's 39A.
Damn nice gun and extremely accurate and I mean extremely accurate !

I would love to go hiking around like the old days with this rifle and
a S&W model 17 ........ Maybe some day.
I love this rifle.

Texan

Mine is 1956 39M. Love them old Marlins.

Here is my 1964 model with vintage scope.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I had a Model 39 with a 39A barrel on it. Serial # 170. Most accurate 22 I ever owned. Had a Williams peep on it too.

I've got a couple older Marlin 1897 lever .22's. Best I can figure they're from around 1900/1905.
Among my favorite 22 rifles.

1950 vintage tack driver

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God spelled backwards is dog.

I picked one up last year.
It had XS "Ghost Ring" sights installed.
That sold me since I was going to put them on anyway so it would
match my other Marlin lever guns.

I have picked up 2 marlin 39's this year. One is a 1957-8 Mountie and the other is a 1999 1897 Cowboy. I love'em both.

LTC

I've got a 1954 model. Great gun.

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ASA/NSA 67-71
NRA Benefactor

2 Marlin 97's Both pistol grip octagon (and 1/2 oct) bbl models. Top one with deluxe wood,
and is an earlier 'round top' version.
I have a plain straight grip model 97 also w/round bbl that didn't make it into the pic.
It made short work of a mouse that hid under the couch last fall w/a 22CB Long.
A special place in my heart for that rifle now.

The bottom rifle in the pic seems to be on permanent loan to a brother who hunts all the time. He actually shot a grouse on the wing with it.
Those Marines are like that.

I understand that the older Marlins had ballard rifling, in that each groove was machined separtely, unlike the newer micro groove barrels today. I wonder if that lends to the inherit accuracy of this rifle. One thing for sure it feels just right. With all these nice pic's I'm going to have to post one of mine. Interesting, only bokinlp had sling hooks on his. I like the looks of a sling on this rifle.

Mine is year earlier than Doublesharp's and in about he same condition--and it's a tack driver.

I'd like to put a peep sight on it while I still have good enough eyesight to take advantage of it.

Great, classic American rifle.

I bought my first 39A in 1975. It is a 1968 vintage rifle. I bought a 1976 39A a year ago at a gun show. I really like both of them.

I do have a question of accuracy for you guys. I am a 22LR accuracy nut and have several 22 rifles that shoot 1/2" to 3/4" at 50 yards. I have a couple of 40X Remingtons that will shoot 1/2" or less at 100 yards. The best my Marlins will do is 1" at 50 yards.

What do you guys get for 50 yards groups?

John

I've the E serial 1948 model.
Bought it at a pawn shop in VA.
Looks like new

Bought mine off of the used gun rack at a Western Auto store on Main Street around 1960. It was in minty condition (still is) and was marked $35.00. Got it for $30.00. GREAT rifle!
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Is there a way to determine the year of manufacture by the serial number?

This chart will get you pretty close:

additionalinfo/Marlin date code.htm

I bought this 1960 39A a few months back:

I've seen that date chart but I've got one that starts with a "B". I believe someone told me once that it was a 1941 vintage which is one of the first to be called a 39 rather than the 97's. It's case colored witha blued barrel. Anyone got an idea what its worth?

Thank you.
Mine is a "AA" code- 1965 (a gift from my Mother and Father)

Condition is everything. It is worth $300 on up to....... That is the best I can do without good pics and description.

John

i have always loved old lever guns, and my all time favorite is the 56 model with the 16" factory heavy barrel, this gun has rode ponys, horses, tractors, trucks, killed more game than you could load in a box car and is still much more accurate than i can see

my second best 39a is the 1954long barreled mounty which was a short lived version of the straight stocked mounties

i have owned more accurate target designed rifles but never any that was any more fun or minute of squirrell acurate

Mine is a b prefix with a case hardened reciever also. My dad gave it to me as a kid and i learned to shoot with it. I was offered $475 by a guy at the range one time if that helps you with the value. I will never sell the rifle though. My son is gonna get it in 5or6 years. I hope he enjoys it as much as I have.

Thanks John and sbeatty.I appreciate a ballpark figure and realize condition is what its all about. I bought it about two years ago and am very impressed with it's accuracy but I've been thinking lately that I'd like a 4" 29 preferably -2 but maybe because of cost a -3 and thought about selling the 39 to put the money towards one.

I'd been looking for an affordable one for some time. Most that I've seen around here start at around $400 for well used and head towards $650 or more for the better condition guns. I finally lucked into one at a gun show a couple months ago for around $250. P prefix which dates it to around 1956. It was missing the butt plate and looked as if someone had wiped down the metal parts with a lead cleaning cloth. The blue looked smeared off in a lot of places. Shoots great though and parts are easy to find. The 39 has quite a following. After buying mine, I carried it with me around the show for another hour or so and was approached by at least a dozen others asking if it was for sale.
John

For a couple decades a Model 39A from 1953 hung ignored on a peg board in the garage of the family vacation home. About 10 years ago I decided to look at this thing I thought was an old Daisy BB gun. What a surprise. Even more suprising - no rust! So, I cleaned it up and starting using it. It turns out that my wife's grandfather gave it to her older brother in the 1970's and he just lost track of it - even though he walked by it hundreds of times. Bottom line - shoots great and it motivated me to buy one for here at home. A 1950 24-inch barrel. Love to shoot the Aquila 60 grain subsonics through it.

The most fun I have with mine is using 22 shorts-they make almost no noise at all. Just a ping hitting the target trap. Vewy, vewy, quiet...

About 2 weeks ago I was at Beatrix Potter's cottage in the village of Near Sawrey, England. Lots of descendants of Flopsie, Mopsie and Cottontail all over the property. The 39A with the shorts or subsonics would be the ideal solution to that bunny problem. No one there seemed interested in that approach though. Wonder why?

I always wanted one, and a few weeks back at a gunshow, I traded for an Original Golden 39a that was born the same year as me...1973. I like it just as well as I thought I would. I have two little boys that'll try their best to either wear it out or run me out of ammunition.

My boys tried to wear my 39A out but they didn't even phase it.

John

Mine is by far the youngest here, but it still a treasure...

I have a 39M I received for Xmas when I was 12. For my birthday the following May I got a Williams Foolproof reveiver sight for it. It is by far the most consistently accurate rifle I have. Since I got it, it has had 10's of thousands of rounds through it without a hiccup.

Of all my guns, that one is truly one I will never part with. My 13-year-old daughter loves it and shoots it extremely well.

I LOVE MINE!!!!

Pete

I'm hoping to have a grandson one day and my 39a will go to him.

I wouldn't mind having a grandson or two. But my sons can't find a woman that will pack out elk on her back and carry a shotgun loaded with slugs for protection from bears and lions.

Women--they just don't make them like they use to!!!!!! LOL LOL

John

I too just bought a 1955 39M, absolutely Love it. Can't buy a better one. I have had two others and stupidly let them get away from me. Never again will this one go anywhere.

I have my Dad's 39A that is from 1946. After inheriting it I sold my own 39A that I purchased new in 1995 and was never quite thrilled with. Nothing really wrong with it but I never thought it was close to the quality of the older ones. Mine is as slick as slick can be with a beautiful trigger pull, and is really accurate. I also inherited the Lyman Peep Sight that mounts to the side of the Rifle, but as of yet have not installed it.

Just a note:

For those of you who have newer models with the rebounding hammer and don't like that feature, there are instructional's online to convert it back to conventional operation in about 10 minutes.

I have a 39M Golden Mountie mfg. in 1963. Wife got it for Christmas that year. She bought me the 39A and I exchanged it for the carbine mountie style. Just suited me better. Great rifle.

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James
On the Llano Estacado

One of my grandfathers only owned two firearms. Blasphemous yes? One was a 39A and the other was a 357 Blackhawk. While I love both the 39A would be the last gun I own to leave me!

I even bought the misses the Mountie version about two years ago so she had her own and that went over pretty durn well!

My best friend in high school had a Marlin 39 and I always wanted one (I was stuck with a Wards Westernfield single shot). I picked this Marlin 39 Carbine up a couple of years ago. Apparently, they aren't real common, Marlins are one of the many things that I am no expert on. But, it shoots great and it will be passed to one of my grandsons. It has an "AA" prefix on the SN AA308XX. It had the receiver sight on it when I got it but don't know if it was factory original or added later.

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Keep Shootin' and check 6

I owned a marlin 39A when I grew up in the 1950s. I stupidly sold or traded it off. I still have the other .22 I grew up with, dads winchester model 61 octagon barrel. I also had a winchester 67 back then. Later I had a nice old marlin mountie. I did like the mountie over the 39A as it was lighter and slicker handeling. The 39A had the pistol grip stock, longer barrel and a lot thicker forearm.

My lgs has a M39 Mountie in ex condition for $399. I was thinking of buying a used Henry .22 in near new condition they have for $239 but those old Marlins are so much more solid.

I tried to find a 39A with walnut stock and checking yesterday. Didn't see any on Gunbroker. I bought a nice one in 2008 and stuck it in the safe (NIB). Glad I did.

I also have an 1897 Cowboy (LNIB). I bought it for $450 about 5 years ago. A couple of them recently sold on Gunbroker for $1100 and $1200.

My brother has a model 39 that he wants to sell to me. The bluing and wood are around 90% and all original. The case hardening is about 50%. Made around 1927. Sounds pretty nice.

I bought my 39A Golden new back in 1988 and have put countless thousands of rounds through it. One accurate and fun to shoot rifle that isn't the least bit picky about what you feed it. Just wish mine had nicer wood as it wears a couple hunks of plain, nearly figure-less US black walnut.

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Virtue,Liberty & Independence

About 1980 I was in college and working in a gun shop. We traded for a very nice Marlin 39A with a 3/4 inch Weaver scope. (second from left)



I snagged it and gave it to my dad. He wasn't a gun guy, but he sure was proud of that little Marlin. It would outshoot any other 22 rifle we ever tried against it. I got it back when dad passed away about 10 years ago, the old Weaver scope just wasn't cutting it so I swapped it for a 4x Leupold rimfire scope.

Last year I ran across a Marlin 39M Octagon, only made one year, 1973. No, it's not for sale, ever.

Somebody back up a few posts mentioned what type of rifling the Marlins have, using the correct term for it I am sure. I think Marlin referenced them as having a "polygonal" bore?

Whatever they called the bore type, everyone of you owners seemed to have good reports of accuracy.

Sure wish I still had my 39A.

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wanna do right-- not right now