Home Forums Lever Action Central Rimfire Levers Marlin 39A "Classicized"

My Model 39A Golden was made in 1978. I like the heavier barrel, as this rifle is used for lever silhouette, but I've never cared for gaudy stuff like white line spacers, shiny finishes, and "gold" trim. So I decided to go for a classic look, something like a good walnut and blued steel rifle from earlier eras. I got rid of the white spacers and stripped the stock. Because of the contours, I had to make a new grip cap from scratch using black acrylic plastic. A lot of work. Also replaced the brass screw with steel, hard to find and fit. The whole grip cap replacement may have been the toughest part of the project. Fitted a Pachmayr butt pad. Stock was stained a Winchester red, and given a matte unfilled finish. Gold plate was sanded off the trigger, which was rust blued. The pics were taken in bright sunlight, but the stock normally looks darker and richer than it appears in the photos, more like the bottom pic.

All in all, I'm happy with the results.

Paul

nice job on the cap.

Looks good!!

Beautiful craftsmanship! The Marlin 39 is on my gun "bucket list".

Awesome!

Nice look!

OP, I've got an older 39a that is missing the pistol grip cap. The newer ones don't seem to fit. What did you use ("black acrylic plastic")? Fashioning one from scratch, seems to be the route I'm going to take.

Jeff

I couldn't for the life of me recall what kind of cap was on my 78 golden mounty when all of a sudden it dawned on me (insert best Homer Simpson "DOH" sound track here) that the mounty doesn't have the pistol grip. But if it did I would like the all black rout you took!

Jeff, Welcome!

I just got a piece of black acrylic plastic sheet from the scrap pile at a local plastics shop, rough cut it to shape, put a hole in the approximate center for the screw, then filed and sanded until I got it where I wanted it. Like I said, just tedious.

An easier approach might be to order a cap for a later model Marlin 336, and see if it is enough oversized to make it fit. It'd save a lot of work. Brownell's should have them, and might even be able to provide some guidance.

You might also want to use some other screw while doing the shaping and sanding, so you don't mess up the original brass screw. The new ones are pricey, and don't seem to quite match the originals. They break easily too.

Paul

Nice work. I wonder if I could create a butt plate much like yours for a Mini 14 (old style stock)rather than buying a new stock with the current butt plate?

Paul nice looking rifle, turned out better than new.

Tim

Paul,

Thanks for the advice on the screw. What did you "protect" the stock with during the fitting .. I'm assuming you didn't refinish it. I've heard of folks wrapping painters tape around the end of the butt stock when fitting a butt plate, so I was going to carefully try that approach.

I'll double check the 336 pistol grip cap next time at the LGS. I had though it was the same size stock as the 39, but if it works..I'll take it.

For some reason, all the usual suspects (Bob's, Vintage Grips, GunGrips.com) don't carry pistol grip cap reproductions and the ones avialable from Numrich for the curren 39AS won't fit . Seems like I can't be the only guy this this problem!

And once again .. that is a super clean look you've created. Its classic!

Jeff

By coincidence, I just checked in here.

I completely stripped and sanded the stock, so that made fitting the cap and butt pad easier. The cap would be a real bear if you had to make it fit without sanding the wood around it.

About the screw, it's an odd size that you can't get at the hardware store. Typical of gun stuff. Makes it a PITA.

Paul

If you need a screw replacement in the future, the older 39a's had a blued screw. It was sometime in the 70's (probably coinciding with the glossy Mar-finish) that they went to the brass screw. I'm sure some upplier ... Numrish, VinrtageGrips, ChasJones ... has them.

To get your "smooth" finish on the pistol grip, did you finish with fine sandpaper (2000 grit) or did you need a commercial product for polishing plastic (3M rubbing compound, for example). I was planning on a gradual progression from file to sand paper, but am still not sure what is the best way to get a smooth/glossy finish.

Jeff

I wish I had known about a source for the blued screws. Would have saved a lot of work.

I sanded to 2000, then buffed with Flitz on a small cloth wheel in a Dremel tool. It was just stuff I had on hand, but it worked fine.

Paul