Marlin 39A - Decided against it- For awhile

[TMan]

Someone on this forum, who I won't name, got me interested in the Marlin 39A. I asked my dealer about it and she checked with her distributors and said there weren't any available. Sometimes not getting what you want isn't such a bad thing.

Yesterday I was at Cabela's and was talking to the guy behind the counter about rifles. I mentioned my interest in the Marlin, he said there might be one in the "back". He checked on the computer, said he had 2 of them. He then went into the back and brought one out in its un-opened box. It was not impressive. They wanted $449 for it, and I wasn't at all tempted. The trigger was heavy and creepy, and the finish wasn't all that great. This thing is not competition for the Henry Golden Boy.

I also looked at a Browning BL-22 that they wanted $489 for. I was much more impressed with the finish on it and the action than I was with the Marlin.

Nope, didn't buy either one, but did buy a Bench Master Rifle Rest and ammo.

[MLB]

The Marlin is supposed to be quite a shooter (accuracy wise), but I couldn't get over it's looks (and it's price). If only you didn't have to put the thing right in front of your face to shoot it...

I'm happy with my Henry as well.

[TMan]

So I was back in Cabela's and looked at the 39A again. It looked far worse than before. Apparently the guns get handled alot. I asked for permission to dry-fire it, but still held my thumb there to prevent the hammer from hitting the firing pin.

The trigger felt fairly heavy, but was very crisp - no creep. The stock looked like crap. I mentioned the poor condition to the guy behind the counter. He said: "I think I may have another one in stock." He did. He doesn't anymore.

[MLB]

OK TMan. While I do look forward to your reviews, you're not pinning this one on me.

Hope she's a shooter, even if you have to do it in the dark... ;D

[TMan]

MLB, after getting it home and putting in a snap-cap, I dry-fired it a bit, and measured the trigger pull - 4lbs. That won't do!!!

The trigger return spring alone was giving me 2 lbs. So, stoned the trigger engagement surfaces slightly, and did a little reforming of the trigger return spring. That got it down to 1-1/2lbs. However, it wasn't reliable; I'd gone too far on the trigger return spring. I then reformed the spring again, and it made the action reliable, but I was back to being a little over 2lbs.

I then checked the Wolff gun-springs web-site and found out that they have reduced power springs for the hammer and for the trigger return: placed them on order and they should be here some time this week. I'm not going to reassemble and shoot until I get the springs.

[TMan]

Well, I was wrong about the trigger return spring. I guess I read what I wanted to read from the Wolff web-site. A reduced trigger return spring was not included. However, with the reduced power hammer spring (the original is really heavy), it brought the trigger pull down to an average of 1lb 4.6oz. On a lever action rifle, I can live with that - it isn't meant to be a bench-rest target rifle.

I'm not that wild about the action. I used high-tech grease on it and it smoothed it up a little, but it is no Henry.

Oh, I also got reduced power hammer springs for the Winchester 94's too. I'll get around to working on them at some point this winter. Right now I'm working on fitting a new firing pin for one of the CZ-52's.

[MLB]

Have you considered removing a coil or two on the stock trigger return spring?

[TMan]

MLB, it isn't that kind of spring. I don't know squat about names of springs, but this is the kind where there is a tab sticking out on each end. So the spring never compresses; its action is to wind/unwind. I took the end that rested on the trigger and bent it upward to reduce the tension. Of course I went too far. I then bent it back too far, and then one last bend. I don't want to break it because I want to shoot the gun next week.

With regular springs, I've used Robert Dunlop's trick of putting a punch inside the spring, and holding it at roughly a 45 degree angle, hit it with the belt sander. The spring revolves so it takes roughly the same amount of material off all the way around. He does this vs cutting off coils, which reduce the length. I've seen him do this in several of the AGI videos. I've watched him so much that I've considered buying a 55 gallon drum of Simple Green. ;D

The Marlin's engagement is very simple. The trigger has a surface that engages the hammer surface. There isn't much engagement (the factory knows it can't double on you), so I can't feel any creep. I can't imagine why they used such a heavy trigger return spring. The hammer spring is heavy too, but they don't want any FTF's.

I don't understand why the action is so heavy unless it has something to do with the spring loaded ejector.

[MLB]

That punch and sander trick is a neat idea. It seems that you could take it a step farther and make a spring with a non-linear "k" value by sanding more at one end than another. (Though I can't see any benefit to that in a trigger return spring. Perhaps in a hammer spring?) In a DA handgun, you'd start out with a very light pull, and then build to whatever feels good to you.