.22 lever guns: educate me a bit

[epj]

There's a reason the Winchester 9422's are expensive. They are the best.

While I would agree that their name is synonymous with lever action rifle, I have to disagree. A buddy had a 9422 that he bought in the mid 70's. My old Marlin would out shoot it any day of the week. No jams, no failures of any sort. The action was much slicker, and the trigger much crisper. The Winnie was a nice rifle, but not better than the 39A. They cost more because they are less common and bare the Winchester name.

 

[ky wonder]

all three are nice guns, but I have a preference for the marlin 39a's as well, I have several and they are all excellent rifles that are superbly accurate.

I would also recommend the JM marked guns as well, the boys in KY are not as good at putting these together as the old school Yankee craftsman.

take the first two digits and subtract it from 100, this will get you the year of manufacture on the marlins that do not have an alphabet prefix in the serial number, serialization is easily found online

the difference is the 39as has the cross bolt safety, just as good as the A, but collectors like the non cross bolt safety guns.

you can get a set of fire sights and solve that front sight picture issue, believe me I know

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Marlin-1895...432591?hash=item1a0e33e88f:g:xbIAAMXQudxRYvvU

 

[model70hunter]

I once had a Marlin carbine, perhaps it was the Mountie. I always coveted one but had the same experience as Revolver in post #8.

If one does not work the lever smoothly and firmly in both directions it jammed and jammed. I did not like the weight as I thought a 22 rifle should be light for carrying by hand when hunting. I can had have carried many 10 plus pound deer rifles and have no issue with that.

I traded it off and have not missed it. I have been looking for a Browning or perhaps a Winchester, but I need for the guys who own them to fess up, are those 2 good for head shots on squirrels out to 40-50 yards?

For hunting or plinking I do prefer my Ruger 10/22. Light, handy and accurate. No lever.....

 

[Grayfox]

I've shot the Browning and the Marlin and certainly won't knock them. They are excellent rifles.
I also know several people who have Henrys and are very happy with them.
What I own is a 1978 Winchester 9422XTR. There's a reason these are more expensive. Its because they're worth it! When Winchester decided to make these .22 lever guns , they went all out to make sure it was the best quality rifle it could possibly be. That's a forged steel receiver in this rifle. Not some cast or stamped thing you might find in other .22s. Winchester considered the 9422 to be one of their top tier products and the attention they paid shows in both looks and performance.
If you can afford it and are willing to pay the extra cost, you won't regret it.

 

[Sgt911]

I have marlin and henry. My Marlin is a 1972, very solid but seems off balance to me, the buttstock is short and the barrel is long. I had a browning but couldn't stand it. I could not get past the trigger being attached to the lever.

 

[Cal44]

I have a 39A marlin from 1956 shown below:

It came to me a couple years ago from a friend -- with a low cost, but good working scope.

There is a simple procedure for finding the build year from a Marlin serial number. I don't remember the details, but it's easy to find with Google.

Great accurate rifle.

 

[Sistema1927]

I have an older Marlin 39A, it is "the bee's knees".

For those panning the new Remlins, you might want to check out the Marlin Owner's Forum. It seems that the teething pains are ended, and the new guns are every bit as good as the old ones now. Some there contend that they are actually better.

I recently purchased a brand new Remlin 1895GBL (.45-70), and it is every bit as good as my JM Marlin 336, 39A, and 1894C.

 

[cowboy4evr]

Winchester 9422 , forget the rest , enough said ,

 

[Gene L]

Got a Marlin 39A...an older rifle in great condition and a nail driver. If the one the OP looked at is a pre remlin sounds like a pretty good deal. If it has a safety button on the side, move along.

My shooting buddy has a Henry .22. It's as accurate as my Marlin, lighter in weight because the receiver is a zinc compound covered by a steel cover. It seems to be perfectly strong enough for a .22, though. Winchesters post-64 rifles I assume have the bad points of the 94 30-30s.

Browning lever rifles don't interest me.

 

[walnutred]

Nothing really wrong with either of the three so it comes down to what fits you and your budget best. I have a BL22 but my second choice would be the Marlin. I've always been a Marlin fan and have several variations.

 

[ACORN]

Marlin 39 for me. I have a new unfired 39AS that is destined to be a legacy gun to go to my daughter when I pass.
I also have a Henry I bought for myself to shoot. The Henry is a nice little rifle but in a different league as the Marlin. Painted receiver, plastic front sight, zamak alloy, but does look nice and is smooooooth. Plus they have excellent CS.
Outside of the butt plate and stock bullseye the Marlin's all steel and walnut.
IMO get the Marlin.

 

[eveled]

Not enough pictures in this thread. My choice would be the 39a.

 

[BB57]

Grayfox got it right last May.

The 9422 is first rate and worth every penny.

Winchester's reputation took a real beating with their 1964 changes and started working hard to rehabilitate their reputation in terms of producing quality rifles.

The 9422 was driven by that need and was designed from the start as a very high quality no corners cut lever action rimfire.

It mostly stayed that way after it was introduced in 1972 with very few engineering changes. Winchester added the XTR models in 1978 with a higher level of polish on the flats of the hammer, lever, etc and in 1980 added checkering to the stock on the XTR models. The XTRs went away after 1989, but USRAC who now owned Winchester added checkering to all the 9422s in 1990-91.

Winchester also switched from a steel magazine tube to a brass magazine tube in mid 1978, allegedly to prevent rust. I've never seen a decently maintained 9422 with a rusty magazine tube and I suspect it had more to do with cost savings than anything else. It's a cut corner perhaps, but not much of one.

Winchester also started using the longer 9422M receiver toward the end of 9422 production. These 9422s have a slightly longer ejection port that allows about 1/16" of the bolt carrier to show behind the bolt.

More importantly they won't feed .22 Short and .22 Long cartridges. I'm not sure when this change was made, but I have a 9422 Trapper made in 2000 that has the 9422M receiver.

There are also reports of Winchester using 9422M magazine tubes with the larger opening for the .22 WMR on some later 9422s, but I've never seen one.

There are also people who say the 9422 was discontinued because the tooling was worn out after 33 years of use, and the quality fell of in the last years of production. Again, I have a 9422 made in 2000 and it shoots and functions just as well as my 1978 9422 XTR. The finish is also comparable, with the exception of the higher polish on the hammer and lever flats that is a trait of the XTR rifles.

My understanding was that the 9422 was discontinued because it was really expensive to produce and they couldn't sell them for a price that left a reasonable profit.

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Below you can see the difference in the polished flats with my 1978 9422 XTR and my 2000 9422 Trapper:

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Both my 9422s will shoot 3 to 4 MOA at 100 yards with standard velocity ammunition and they are exceptionally smooth operating lever actions. The take down design is also a plus, and I added aftermarket saddle ring screws to facilitate taking them down without tools.

If the 9422 has any flaws they are in the form of the short grooved receiver where you sometimes need to get creative to mount a scope:

I opted to add tang sights to both of mine. It preserves the excellent lines and handling, while allowing full advantage of the 9422s accuracy potential.

The other arguable flaw is the inner magazine tube has a habit of falling out if the carbine is carried muzzle down with no rounds in the tube. You'll encounter a lot of 9422s with aftermarket replacement tubes after the original fell out, probably when a shooter cleared the carbine or shot it dry, and then walked back to their vehicle, etc.

It's an easy preventative measure to add a small o-ring to the tube to add a bit of pressure holding the pin in the inner tube in the detent in the outer tube.

 

[Joe Canuck]

I have a Winchester 9422. Excellent shooter, action very slick if you are smooth yourself. If you carry any Win lever gun, the 9422 has pretty much the same weight and feel, so if you plink with it, you are gaining heft and feel experience for when you carry and use a bigger bore version of this classic.

 

[Muley Gil]

I bought a M9422 in 1973. It was a great little gun. I sold it in 1979 when I needed some money. Got more for it used than I paid for it new. I always intended to buy another one, but the price kept going up and up.

In the late 1980s, I found a Marlin 39 100 year commemorative for $100. I had wanted one when they came out in 1970, but had no money to buy one. The only problem was that some fool didn't like the way the scope mount was secured and re-tapped the receiver for 1/4-20 screws. I never put another scope on it and the big holes don't affect the way it shoots. I should get it welded up and re-do the top of the receiver, but that is one of those "round to-it" things that will probably won't get done.

 

[350mag]

9422 and 9417 are tops. No comparison. To mount a scope get the weaver extension base. Don't use the included set screw without placing a small lead shot or a hard nylon insert below it to protect the receiver. A saddle ring take down screw makes a nice touch.


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[2152hq]

A 2016 thread but always a popular topic.
Lever action .22's.
Love the pics and storys.
That O-ring trick on the mag tube is neat!

 

[Empe]

I would have to give the thumbs up for the Marlin 39A models . I have three from various years including a first year model ..1939 with case colored receiver/lever. I like them .
The Winchester models are very nice but you will likely pay a considerable amount more for one than for a Marlin.
The Brownings like wise are very well made but I just never liked the high gloss stocks and the trigger/lever assembly as one unit just looks rather odd to me.
Someone else mentioned the Henry. While they seem to be quite reliable & a good product for the money I just don't see them as being in the same category quality wise as either the Marlin,Winchester or Browning.

 

[BB57]

.../
/...Someone else mentioned the Henry. While they seem to be quite reliable & a good product for the money I just don't see them as being in the same category quality wise as either the Marlin,Winchester or Browning.

The Henry .22 lever gun is a direct descendant of the Ithaca Model 72 from the 1970s.

Louis Imperato, the current owner of Henry firearms, designed the Model 72 (and 72A, which fed .22 short, long and long rifle) and sold the design to Ithaca in 1973. Ithaca had Erma in West Germany manufacture them. They stayed in production until late 1978 when Ithaca's parent company filed bankruptcy and closed the plant.

The Model 72A was then sold from 1985 to 1990 by Iver Johnson as the Wagonmaster.

In 1996 Louis Imperato bought the design rights for the Model 72 from Ithaca Acquisitions Inc and he and his son then started the Henry Repeating Arms Company in 1997. Thus the similarity between the Henry 001 and the Ithaca Model 72A.

The Henry and the Model 72 and 72A all use a Zamak alloy receiver with a cover over the receiver for cosmetic purposes. Zamak alloys are all zinc alloys but unlike pot metal are high purity and don't have the dimensional stability and cracking issue is associated with "pot metal".

The oldest 72s have been around for 46 years and the youngest 72As are 41 years old, but you still seem them fairly regularly in and in functional condition. That suggests the Zamac receivers will hold up pretty well over time.

But I doubt they'll ever have the same collector value or heirloom status of a Winchester 9422 or a Marlin Model 39.

 

[ACORN]

Off topic, but last night I stopped in my LGS and saw a new Rem 572BDL pump gun for $679!!! Yikes!