I drilled and tapped for the set screw. Had not seen it done like that, just figured it out.
I turned the screw until the trigger wouldn't clear the hammer notch. Then backed off until it barely cleared. I had already honed the sear and trigger with Arkansas hard stone.
It's a very clean 2 1/2 # pull with no appreciable over travel. It's almost as good as my Anschutz and Cooper rifles. Well, not quite that good, but exceptional for a Marlin 39. Good enough that it'll surprise ya...
Stiff action on your gun means it hasn't been used that much. Those guns are really tough, will last for generations. You done good. Check the take down screw. If it's over tight, that could make the action feel stiff. It doesn't need to be "farmer tight".
Another story about this gun. Some years back, I bought a Volquartsen 10-22, set up for .22 Shorts. It had the heavy SS barrel with the right twist, aluminum bolt, altered mag for shorts. That was to be a real squirrel rifle. Well, it turned out this rifle shot shorts better than that one, tighter groups. That really pizzed me off. I sold the .22 Short SS heavy barrel, the special bolt and mag. Got a Green Mtn .22LR barrel, std.steel bolt and std. mag. Turned that sucker into a .22 LR. My son has it now.
Bottom line, this rifle shoots shorts better than a high end, dedicated rifle set up to shoot shorts.
Pretty amazing. I wasn't expecting that.
DF.
Last edited by Dirtfarmer; 07/16/19.
