Henry Rifle Forums

Got out today for a while with my Marlin 39.
Gave it a complete tear down & cleaning yesterday and decided this morning to go put a few rounds downrange.
It was missing it's rear sight as I took the Williams off it several years ago to put on a Winchester so I had to scrounge around my gun parts for a sight and managed to find an old WInchester buckhorn so I tapped it in, squared it up and called it good.
I got lucky and managed to keep pine cones bouncing at 50 yards.
Hadn't been out with a .22 in a long time and almost forgot how much fun it is!

Love the 39s.
The thick tapered barrel gives it great balance and the heft of a larger caliber rifle.

You definitely picked a great rifle to get back into some rimfire shooting. Another one, here, who loves the balance of the 39A.

You definitely picked a great rifle to get back into some rimfire shooting.

Yea it had been taking a back seat to my other levers for a few years so it was time to get it cleaned up and back into action!

Nice clean 39A. They are a fun rifle to own and take out shooting the kind of targets you were shooting. What is the year of your 39A?

1983 - last year before the crossbolt safety.

The M-39 now wears a .375 gold bead front and a Williams receiver sight.
The front tapped in smoothly with no fitting needed.
Higher profile and a peep rear - major improvement!

The Williams peep is also my preferred sight for a 39A. Great choice for that rifle with that log 24" barrel.

I like the front sight. What kind is that?

I like the front sight. What kind is that?

Probably Marbles since it was the original one on my Henry BBB !

Looks taller on that rifle but I see it now.

Mistered wrote: ↑

Tue May 21, 2019 9:59 pm

I like the front sight. What kind is that?

Probably Marbles since it was the original one on my Henry BBB !

Looks taller on that rifle but I see it now.

Technically it is taller as the M-39 has a removable, dovetailed sight ramp that screws onto the barrel.
So in reality it is about 1/2" high from top of the barrel to center of sight bead.

Mistered wrote: ↑

Sun May 19, 2019 8:46 pm

1983 - last year before the crossbolt safety.

The cross bolt safety and the rebound hammer actually started on the 39A in 1988. The 336 got the safety five years earlier in 1983.

There's no doubt that 22 plinking is just plain fun and no better way to do so with one of the best there ever was.

Although my 22 Lever of choice is a Winchester 9422 there's no doubt the Marlin 39 is a real classic and they don't get any better than that.

a Winchester 9422

Had one as well a long time age and if memory serves I believe I traded it.
The 39 came along later and is a keeper.
It actually fits me better than the 9422 did - I recall it being kind of short and somewhat small
Overall.

Mistered wrote: ↑

Wed May 22, 2019 6:18 am

a Winchester 9422

Had one as well a long time age and if memory serves I believe I traded it.
The 39 came along later and is a keeper.
It actually fits me better than the 9422 did - I recall it being kind of short and somewhat small
Overall.

It is and especially when compared to a Marlin 39. Sort of funny actually because for my size in general I actually prefer the bigger guns but in this case when I compared the two I just preffered the Winchester 9422 over the Marlin 39.


I also have another even shorter Lever on the way. Hoping at 33 inches the Winchester 1892 Trapper works for me as well. I might have preferred a larger gun but it's the only size Winchester made in a Takedown version. Well it's the size they made this go around and I wanted a Takedown version.

Hoping at 33 inches the Winchester 1892 Trapper works for me as well.

I think you'll be OK as the receiver and stock are full size but you may find it to be a little light on the front end when you shoulder it.
I had a 94 AE Trapper once and thats what I discovered - and realized I prefer a longer rifle.
The 9422 I recall just always felt too small and short for me - I am kind of tall with long ape arms so this has a lot to do with it.
The Marlin has a 'full size' rifle feel to me.

Mistered wrote: ↑

Wed May 22, 2019 12:18 pm

Hoping at 33 inches the Winchester 1892 Trapper works for me as well.

I think you'll be OK as the receiver and stock are full size but you may find it to be a little light on the front end when you shoulder it.
I had a 94 AE Trapper once and thats what I discovered - and realized I prefer a longer rifle.
The 9422 I recall just always felt too small and short for me - I am kind of tall with long ape arms so this has a lot to do with it.
The Marlin has a 'full size' rifle feel to me.

I hope so because my other options were either just not as compeling to me because I like the quality of what I have experienced with the Miroku versions and for me it had to be a take down version. So it was either going to be more expensive and I'm not ready to pay for a Turnbull version, or the longer versions of the Miroku Winchester 1892s were offered earlier under the Browning name or the Winchester version offered by Davidsons years ago were going to be much harder to find especially in 357. Both very nice versions with even better wood and finishing and also longer barrels and guns overall. Anyway my thinking was since this won't be my only 357 lever gun it will be an option for me and not my only 357 lever gun. More for the experience of having a 1892 in a takedown version. Strong prefrence for something larger but I'm thinking it will hopefully work in this situation and it hopefully will even be easier to clean because it is a takedown version.

When intially determing between the 9422 and the Marlin 39 I did all my research without seeing either gun. However I was fortunate enough to compare both in person before buying my 9422 and for some reason although the 39 was larger which generally would appeal to me it also seemed oversized in certain aspects. I can't remeber exactly how now because it's been awhile but that's the feeling I got. Anyhow that doesn't mean it still doesn't appeal to me in some way because it's still a 22, a lever gun, and an iconic rifle at that. Unfortunately I still have a few others that appeal to me more and some of which would fill a hole in my fairly modest collection that I would like to keep somewhat manageable. I imagine mine is very small when compared to most but I would also like to keep it that way.

Well, when I bought my Marlin I happened to stumble on it at a gun show, and realizing I did NOT have a .22 at the time, and really liking it I bought it - and that was 33 years ago !