I just picked up a Model 39A Marlin in 22LR.

It's a tube fed lever action, manufactured in 1956.

I had a 22 LR and a 22 Mag revolver, but no long gun.

This is my first 22 rifle since college age. As a kid, I had a Remington bolt action 22, but my mom sold it out from under me when I was away at college.

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Those are great rifles.

Marlin 39 series are the best lever action 22s ever made, they
are fast becoming collector items. The 39 comes from the
refinements of the earlier 1892-97. They had a long run but no
longer being made.

What a great rifle! Best lever action 22 IMHO.

Congratulations!

I have the one my father bought in the early 1950's. '51 or maybe '52. This one still has the standard rifling rather than the "Golden"'models with the Microgroove rifiling. Very, very accurate and very smooth operating. Among the very best .22 rifles ever made, if not the best.

Great rifle, I went on a quest for one and almost bought the Mounty version for $950. I finally gave up as I was just not going to shell out $3,000-$5,000 for a .22 rifle when I can get a decent M1A for $1,600. A friend let's me shoot his and that will have to do. I hope that it serves you and your heirs long onto the future. Congratulations on buying a "classic".

You now have the best .22 rifle EVER (a few may argue that) but not many ! - Now get that scope off, get a peep sight and a front sight hood and blaze away! I have a Williams on mine. Correct me if I am wrong but has it been re-stocked? I don't see the grip cap or the 'bullseye' on the bottom.

The Cadillac of .22's

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Some collect art; I shoot it!

Congratulations on the find! Mine is a 1960 39A, and super accurate. I have a Skinner peep sight on it, because the sights are too hard to see these days. Keep it scoped if you are an old blind man like me. You done real good Cal44! Real good!

I like the looks of lever actions better without scopes.

But I also like hitting what I aim at.

With iron sights I can't hit much beyond 10 yards and can't even see the targets at 100 yards.

Yes, nice shooting .22.

One of the CLASSICS for sure. Mine's a '54 MOUNTIE.

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Good shooting.

I just bought another Century (the short, octagon barrel with the straight stock) off GB for $500. I prefer the 24", pistol grip, but the shorts are good, too.

I have a 1964 Mountie that I bought new with a K2.5 Weaver and a 1959 rifle that I bought used and put a Leopold 3X9 .22 scope on it. I planning on having both of them when I die.
One of my mentors told me that a 39 Marlin would not always shoot where you wanted but you could bet the farm that it shot where you held. I have found that he told the truth. Larry

I have 2 of them. One my dad bought used, an early Model 39 in the 1950s, which is a 4 digit serial number, octagonal barrel and has the silver case colored receiver. I grew up shooting that rifle. I liked it so much that I bought my own Golden 39A brand new in 1987.

If I can get my dad's model out of the back of the safe, I should take a picture of it and get it posted here. 39s are great rifles.

Your early 39 should only be shot with standard velocity ammo. These older guns are works of art and flawless in construction but were never meant to be fired with the higher pressure HI-SPEED ammo. The bolt will eventually break when using modern ammo. I am not a Marlin fan by any stretch of the imagination but believe the 39's are in the top 10 of 22 rifles. I know about the broken bolts as in my youth I broke 4 different bolts on the older guns before I did research and found out what my problem was. Finding a replacement bolt is very difficult these days because of people like me.

Mine is a 39 D Very accurate and has been my go to 22 rifle since 1975

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My old man bought me a Marlin 1897 for my 5th birthday. He had
to cough up $8 for it. This was back in 55, so $8 was not chump
change for a working man. Still have it, we never sell any guns
that were gifts or passed down through the family. I have had
several over the years. I do have a Mounty I bought when my
kids got interested in shooting. Of all the 22s I have they wanted
to shoot the cowboy gun. I bought the 39 so there would be no
accidents with the 1897. They shot up a storm with the 39 and
it still looks new, no accidents. I put a Lyman reciever sight on
it and it's a squirrel shooting machine. I would not go as far as
to say it's the best 22 ever made. It is one of the best, and is the
best 22 lever action ever made.

IMHO, the 39A's were the best .22 lever actions ever made. I foolishly sold my last functioning 39A some years back when thinning my .22 heard. I actually have two beater 39'a in pieces now. They have bee sitting in a box in various states for over 10 years now.. I was restoring them and never got around to finishing. Maybe now that I'm retired, I can get to it. Thanks for the reminder.

p.s. Enjoy yours. My guess is that you'll soon be smitten with everything about the gun.

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Dave

I also have a 39-D, from 1971. To me it's the best of both worlds - carbine barrel and pistol grip stock. Mine has a Leupold 4X RF special on it.

I inherited a model 39 Mountie from my grandfather, manufactured in 1954. At the time (1964) I wished it were a full rifle, not a 20" carbine. Good thing I never acted on that whim.

My grandfather got in on trade, along with a Winchester model 12, 20 ga, for a .36 caliber flintlock squirrel rifle he inherited from his grandfather. It was converted to use a percussion cap, but the side plate lock was still there, sans frizzen.

I found a 39A with Skinner sights for a reasonable price several years ago.
Lots of fun to shoot. It hasn't been to the rang yet this year but that
will change this week, or next.

The oldest, and longest continually produced rifle in the world.....1891-present.

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

I have a 1964 model. The rifle was in superb shape. It came with a vintage Marlin scope on it. It was nice to have the vintage scope, but I did not shoot well with it. I kept it, but bought a Nikon Prostaff Rimfire scope. I shoot much better with the new scope. Here are some before and after pictures.

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

I bought each one of my 3 kids a Marlin Mountie on the day they were born. After they learned how to shoot open sights well, I mounted an old Redfield 3/4" 22 scope on them. I stumbled onto a Marlin 39 carbine a few years back. This is not a Mountie. The carbines were only produced for a few years in the 70's IIRC. They had a 3/4 length magazine tube. It sleeps under the seat of my pickup. I need to put it in a case one of these days.

30-30remchester; I agree with you on the old guns. They are works of art. I'm sure some high velocity stuff was shot though the old one at some point in it's life, but no more. In fact, I don't think I have shot the older 39 since I got the 39A in 1987.

The only part that broke on the original 39 was the hammer return spring. Since this is an early rifle, it has the early flat spring style. It took me over 20 years to find the correct replacement. The hammer works fine now, but again, I don't think I will shoot it all that often.

Way back when, in the late 1950s-early 1960, my best friend had a Marlin 39A. I was very jealous as I was stuck with a Remington bolt .22RF. A few years ago I found a Marlin 39 Carbine in a local shop...........it is mine now. Came with a Weaver receiver sight and I shoot the dickens out of it. It is death on ground squirrels in the Wife's garden. Not jealous anymore.........mine is better than his.

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Keep Shootin' and check 6

I still have a couple M97 Marlins. Standard Vel only.
One I got a very nice deal on as it had been cut back an inch and relined. But a nice job of it.
On top of that it's a pistol grip, 1/2 oct bbl, 1/2 mag w/Lyman tang sight and 2 leaf fold down bbl sight.
No finish left, just the case hardened frame worn to a bright plated appearance from handling.
Everyone passed it up being standard vel only and cut and relined I guess. But a pistol grip deluxe 1/2 oct with those sights,,it's coming home!

It's a pre 1910(?) as it has the ejector/spring that simply falls out of it's cut out the frame once the rifle is TD and the bolt removed. They fixed that with the later style ejector that has 2 small screws on the left outside of the frame to hold them in position.
Repro ejectors for this old style are avail. Check any of the old rifles to make sure the ejector is in place before buying. Many are missing. I have two in that catagory!

Check the bolt locking surface too for cracks. It's the sharp 90* interior corner the locking surface makes with the bolt body that is the real weak spot.
A simple engineering principle that got overlooked. The first Model 39's had the same bolt and the same cracking problem if HS ammo is used.
Marlin made the machine cut w/a small radius to the corner to reinforce the area to prevent the issue in the 39A

I had one in the 60s. Shot a lot of small game with it. Even a goose one time. Had to trade it in the 70s for a Marlin 30-30. Had a family and needed more meat. On my list to get one but they are $600 + around here.

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Riding, Shooting, and Truth

I think Marlin .22lr are often overlooked by shooters as they are not as expensive as some other brands. I have a Model 60 (they have been making that model since 1960!) that is unbelievably accurate. Many folks that have them feel that they are more accurate than the Ruger10-22. A new model 60 and a Bushnell rim fire scope and you are good to go for less than $250!

I have one as well. Golden 39A, it's a takedown from about 1968 or so. My Dad gave it to me and I learned to shoot with that rifle. Amazingly accurate for a lever gun.

I have one with a peep site and it is dead accurate. You did good picking that one up.

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Patriots Forever!!

A Golden 39A was my first firearm. I bought it at a hardware store in 1959 or 1960 when I was 16 using my newspaper/lawn mowing savings.
First chance I had, I took it to my grandparents' house in the country, walked down the road to their neighbor's house to show it off to Jack, the neighbors' son, who was my age and a hunter. He saw me coming and met me by the mailbox at the road. We heard a squirrel fussing, spotted it on the side of a tree about 100 yards down the driveway. Jack said "Throw one down there and scare him." With my first shot, factory sight setting, I knocked that squirrel off the side of the tree trunk at ~100 yds. Jack was amazed. I smiled, letting him think I was Hopalong Cassidy or Roy Rogers or some such.
I loaned it to a friend in the '90's and lost it for 20 years, got it back and still have it. How that happened is another story I've related elsewhere on this forum.

Other than a heavy hammer fall, it is slick and sweet, feels like a real rifle, not a .22 toy.
Question for the guys with peep sights: Did you have to drill and tap the tang, or drill any additional holes to mount it?

I passed up a NIB Mountie a few years ago for $250. I am still kicking myself.
I have an unfired Golden 39 upstairs I bought new. I plan on passing it to my daughter when I pass. I can't bring myself to shoot it for fear of banging it up.
I bought a Henry for shooting. It's a fine rifle, but it's no Marlin.