Sort of a long story but my brother came in for Christmas with a 39A he got from a brother in law that was letting it rot (literally) in his basement. It got cleanted up and taken out to shoot. I have one that I got from my (long ago deceased) father that I had never shot. Not too familiar with all the variants (vs mine his is shorter, no pistol grip) In any case, set up a target at 33 yards to make scope adjustments easy and began getting his zeroed in. Took a bit. Then I broke out mine. Now this was on a day so windy it was moving the target and with old bulk federal lighting that is over 30 years old and I wasn't trying to win any competitions. These were my last 3 (of maybe 10 or so) shots. Needless to say, certainly "minute of squirrel head". As mentioned, I had never shot this gun before. I'll be shooting it with some regularity now.

It sounds like yours is a 39A and your brother�s is a 39A Mountie. I have had a 39A since I was 15 and a Mountie since I was in my late 50�s. Both are terrific.

Could be. Mine doesn't have a gold trigger so I guess if this history is accurate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Model_Golden_39A perhaps it's an early 80's vintage?
I "think" my brother's may in fact have been marked 39M. I'll have him check. Either way, I'm going to try and get it really dialed in. With the capacity of the tube, what a great "walk around the woods for an afternoon" gun. 8-)

If you look up the serial # you can find the date of mfr.
Go here to check out your marlin.
http://www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126777

Thanks! It appears to be a 1983 'vintage'.