Forum rules
Welcome to the Leverguns.Com General Discussions Forum. This is a high-class place so act respectable. We discuss most anything here other than politics... politely.
Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
A friend was scouting the Reno Gun Show for a Marlin 39A, which I had recommended to him as a good Cowboy Lever Action Smallbore silhouette rifle. He found a good candidate and asked me to check it out. It was a pretty nice plain and fairly priced pre-Micro Groove rifle, but what really caught my eye was the rifle laying next to it on the vendor's table. It too was a pre-Micro Groove 39A, but with some very desirable extras. I told him "This is the one you want, and if you don't buy it, I will." He bought it.
At first I thought it was a Deluxe 39A, but upon arriving home and doing some internet investigation, it seems Marlin did not offer a Deluxe 39A. The Redfield receiver sight seems to be correct as my own 39A had the same sight. I can only assume someone restocked it with some nicely figured and checkered wood. The checkering is nice and definitely hand done as it does not quite match side-to-side. Someone opined that Marlin may have had a custom shop that produced special rifles? I dunno. Anybody got an opinion on what we have here?
SHASTA
Last edited by Shasta on Wed Aug 09, 2023 2:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
California Rifle & Pistol Association LIFE Member
National Rifle Association BENEFACTOR LIFE Member
Nice aftermarket checkering and someone added sling eyes & also had the top of the receiver d&t'd. The Redfield is also a big plus. I wouldn't have passed this up either.
Some interesting stuff about your rifle. "H" was 1951. This was the first year Marlin put a butt plate spacer on and the first time a grip cap was added. The grip cap had a brass "peanut" that you could send back to Marlin, with a coupon included in the box, and they would engrave your initials for free. Marlin only did this in 1951. The brass was needed for the Korean war. Marlin kept the butt plate spacer, but did not add a grip cap again until 1957 when the "Golden" 39a was introduced.
This is a scan of the insert, included in the 1952 catalog, that discussed the cancellation of the grip cap.
Last edited by jdad on Fri Apr 13, 2012 8:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I know a whole lot about very little and nothing about a whole lot.
this is a crazy thought...I know after WWII that Marlin bought out Hunter Arms (Fulton, NY), they made the L.C. Smith shotguns and had amazing craftsmen on their staff. Could someone at L.C. Smith hand checkered those stocks, was that an option? Who knows, the only reason I mention that possibility is that the checking and quality of wood look familiar to what I've seen on some L.C. Smith shotguns--who knows, just a shot in the dark. REALLY NICE 39A... :)
Shasta wrote:At first I thought it was a Deluxe 39A, but upon arriving home and doing some internet investigation, it seems Marlin did not offer a Deluxe 39A.
That ain't exactly so Joe !
While they didn't make a Deluxe 39A the year this rifle was produced they did in fact make a 39A-DL from 1961 to 1963 . Guns typically had very nice wood , checkered and a squirrel carved in the buttstock .
In the last dozen years that I've pursued Marlin's I've only had one Marlin 39A-DL in my hands and I let it slip away when someone outbid me at $650 .
Seems alot of folks refer to these 39A-DL's as the "Marlin 39A Squirrel Rifle" .
Parkers , Mannlicher Schoenauer’s , 6.5mm's and my family in the Philippines !
