Marlin 39A Trapper

[Sir Henry]

I want the shortest length barrel and a straight or scant stock.

https://gunvalues.gundigest.com/marlin- ... a-mountie/

That’s the one!

[Ozarkwoodswalker]

I recently acquired a 39a mounting and it is a wonderful old gun.best of luck in your search! It's bound to be out there somewhere waiting for you.

[bandit1250]

The 39A that most folks refer to as the Trapper model came out in 1988(first year for the safety and rebound hammer)and had a very short barrel of 16 1/4" or maybe a 16.5"
They were called a 39TDS. Came with a carry pouch to transport it broken down in half and had a compartment for each half to fit into. They were not known for having great accuracy and mine lived up to the poor accuracy claim. Open sights were a problem for most owners with the shorter sight length of the short barrel. They were also known for having misfires due to the rebounding hammer and mine was one with that issue also. I fixed that problem to work a 100% on firing. I honestly never liked mine and it felt way to small and I am not a big guy. I no longer have it or many of the others my wife and I had collected. It brought very good money with it being first year production with the TDS in the serial number. The Mounties we had in the older model and the later models called 39M were better shooters than the TDS but still were behind the 24" rifle length in accuracy whether scoped or peep sights. The octagon barrel 39 Century Limited was the only really accurate short barrel in our collection. I maybe will miss that one as it was a nice match to my 336 Zane Grey 30/30. Both had octagon barrels and brass crescent butt plates and fore end caps. We went from 26 39A and variations of the A's to 18 and then down to 9 and maybe more will also be leaving. Just got out of the lever action rifles and back to bolt actions. Here is the short little TDS with the pouch and contents. The white plastic action holder is like a holy grail Marlin part because almost all got threw away after the first assembly. It is needed to hold the bolt in the action while transporting in the pouch. Easier to find a TDS gun than the plastic action holder.

This is what we had up until two years ago. We stayed at 18 until last summer. Still have 9.

[Rifletom]

That'a quite the herd of 39's there! Hoping you keep the last 9, as you know, those aren't getting any easier to find, especially at a reasonable price.

[BigAl52]

I dont think Bandit likes 22's very much. Thats a lot of Marlins Bandit. I knew you would chime in here when you saw 39a

[bandit1250]

From 1983 on 39AS. S for the cross bolt safety.
Don't think there ever were any non-JM 39A's.
You can order one from a "Marlin Custom" (not Marlin) shop, but they are put together from old stock parts.

The 39A did not get the cross bolt safety until 1988. The center fire models got the safety in 1983 but no rebounding hammer on the center fires.
There were a very few Remington made 39A's but a close friend of mine bought the only one he ever found and it had fantastic wood but he never fired it. It found a happy home in one of the north west states.

[Sir Henry]

Thanks for the information bandit. I really don’t know much about them. An octagon barrel does sound nice.