Marlin pre-A 39 magazine question & 22lr's shot today

[bsaride]

Well, took out the Win M52 (1920 ex national match gun) and shot it for the first time, shoots better than I can!

The new (1946) Iver Johnson Super Sealed Eight was a no show,
using Win T22 target ammo in all today the the chambers/ejector
on the IJ had burrs and target ammo was too snug for my liking.

Last time I shot the Marlin with the Lyman 17 front and Win 96 rear
aperture sight that were freshly installed, they were shooting right.
Foung that the vintage rear was cock-eyed (extension for the aperture
was not 90 degrees). Drifted before shooting today and windage was
spot on, a few turns to the elevation adjuster and was good to go.

Now my Marlin pre-A magazine question:

Several times when opening the magazine cover the mag spring did not
get fully retractedwith the mag cover when loading. Closing the mag cover
and reopening usually solved this. Is there an easy fix for this before I start looking into it?

[marlinman93]

No easy fix for any early Marlin mag tube, as just disassembling it can be a huge headache, but that shouldn't deter a guy who can work on Bzers!
The inner tube follower has a pin that rides in the full length slot you see when open. It also has a hole at the end that doesn't show. This hole is supposed to catch that pin and keep it retracted. If it's slipping past the hole you've either got a well worn pin, or a well worn/broken tube. If it's the pin you can replace it with drill rod, but if it's the tube it's usually not salvageable except by an extremely talented gunsmith or welder.-Vall

[Rusty]

Just a good cleaning of the tube might go a long way. Try running patches down there and see what comes out. I wouldn't disassemble anything until everything else failed.

Rusty <><