Ammo performance in 39A also FTFire & FTEject

[eaglesnester]

It has been my personnel experience with a brand new out of the box 39A LR Golden that any and all ammo will fire and eject in a properly set up 39A with 100% relia :)bility. It would appear unfortunately that many new 39Aes are leaving the factory improperly adjusted, IE failure to fire and fail to eject.  The failures can be as high as 80 to 90% at least this was the case with my new rifle.
To get the weapon to fire and eject 100% of the time I did the following:

1.  I ground down the bottom strut on the hammer rebound strut.  You find the hammer rebound strut after you take off the stock.  If you do not have the rifles schematic go to the Marlin Web site and download the pdf. It lists the parts and gives you an exploded view of the rifle. Grinding down the lower rebound strut is no big deal, I used a dremal grinding wheel.  I had to remove nearly all of the lower strut.

2.  To address the failure to eject problem you need to replace the extractor. I discovered this after filing, bending, and reshaping the original one that came from the factory.  After mucho filing, bending and reshaping the best I could get was 2 or 3 failures to eject in 19 rounds. Better but still not good enough.  To make a long story short the extractor finally broke from being manipulated too much. Well what do I do now, I have a brand new Marlin 39A, I live in Canada, and can not send it back to the factory for repair in the states.  Called Marlin and they hooked me up with Reliable Guns in Vancouver, B.C. (they are the factory rep). Of course Reliable did not have the part in stock. (Canada is the I can't get it country no matter what it is) Got on the internet and found Brownells down in the states.
We all know that if you live in Canada nobody in the states will ship rifle parts to Canada because of the new US export laws regarding firearms.  It looks like Brownells have had their attorneys actually read the law and it appears it you are ordering parts that cost less than $100 US no export import permit is required?  Anyway I ordered the extractor (ordered 3 of em you can never tell) they were about 5 bucks a piece or so. Well I got em, opened one up installed it in my 39A with no filing, fitting, bending, etc. I loaded up the rifle with 19 rounds of LR ell cheapo bulk ammo and you know what boys and girls?  That weapon cycled 100%. I have tried everybodys ammo and have not had one failure in over 1000 rounds.

[swany]

 

Now you have a fun toy no frustrations. Excellent read I am going to modify your post and sticky it.

[eaglesnester]

Several weeks ago I wrote a nice letter to the folks at Marlin describing my difficulties FTF&FTE with their 39A rifle. Have not heard anything back yet. I did direct them to this web site so they could read for themselves about all of the problems with the rebounding hammer, weak primer strikes, FTF&FTE. It would be nice if I got an answer back from them. We will wait and see. If I do happen to get an answer I will publish it here>

Cheers & Tighter Groups: Eaglesnester

[mount sweetness]

Eagle,
I just went through the exact same ordeal and feel your pain.  Brand new 39A, constant FTF and extraction issues with most ammo.  Plenty of guys over at Rimfire Central forum with the same issues.

Marlin will not answer their phones, I have called a dozen times and waited on hold for a half hour at times.  I had no luck finding a customer service email contact.  Never did get a hold of them, gave up.

Live in Canada as well, paid good money for this gun and was pissed.

I fixed it myself as well.  I added a #6 washer to the hammer strut to increase spring tension and fix misfires, if the problem creeps back in I will just grind off the rebound portion of the strut as well.  I also broke my extractor trying to bend it multiple times after constant extraction issues....I ordered two new extractors from "Western Gun Parts" in Edmonton.  I would recommend Western Gun Parts for all your 39A needs, I bought a Williams Peep from them as well and really like it, FP-39TM.

I cleaned the chamber out really good with Hoppes and a copper bore brush, installed the new extractor will no tweaking and so far so good.  Haven't gotten out yet to try many different brands of ammo.  It would only extract Remington and CCI with the original extractor, all others would stick in the chamber...

Keep me posted!

[eaglesnester]

Thanks for the heads up on Western.  Got a reply back from Marlin today. Simple form letter they send to everybody telling me where I can get my rifle repaired in Canada. Did not mention Western.  I sort of get the feeling that Marlin could care less about quality control.

Cheers & Tighter Groups: Eaglesnester

[mount sweetness]

Eagle,

Did your 39A have trouble ejecting or ....extracting?
How many misfires are you getting with the rebound arm ground off?  1 in 50....1 in 100...none?
Would you mind giving me the address of the Canadian Repair centre just in case I need it in the future.

Back to square one again, not extracting worth a crap.  Took the new extractor out and filed a burr off of the tip, will try again tomorrow. 

One misfire per 30 rounds......might start grinding soon....

Terrible quality control, TERRIBLE!

[wajo]

I had the same problem you guys did (also live in Can.). My trouble was with ejecting not extracting, that worked fine. Mine is posted on the other sticky on this forum  http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php?topic=39075.0 . Since filing down the ejector I have had zero problems with it, slow cycle or rapid fire the gun is a dream to shoot. I know other guys had some success in manipulating the extractor, but nothing worked for me until I filed down the ejector. It's worth a look , it took maybe 15 min. to do. I, knock on wood, have not had the FTF issues some have had.

[kenthecarp]

Another Canadian here, my 39A is an absolute disappointment, bought it at SIRMailorder, their website says satisfaction guaranteed!
I also purchased a new extractor and hammer strut from Brownells. I'm sure mine has serious issues.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php?topic=40792.0

It's off in the post tomorrow to the Marlin rep in Ontario, we'll see how it comes back.
Ken

[wajo]

Hi ken. I bought my 336SS through S.I.R./cabelas and will never do that again. I believe they keep the best ones on the shelf and ship out the less desirable ones. That's not to say that the guns are garbage,  it just might have a small nick here or wood not matching at all or whatever else a picky buyer would look for at the store. The 336SS had a mark on the top of the barrel just ahead of the front site. Now being stainless I was able to buff this out but in the store I would not have purchased this gun it was that noticable. I noticed your pictures on another post. Mine has a slight gap as well but nothing close to yours. The two parts that make up the receiver don't mesh that well either, whereas mine look almost seamless. I hope this all works out for you, I think your doing the right thing by sending it in to be repaired.  Rick.

[mount sweetness]

Ken,

Who is the Marlin Repair Rep in Ontario?

I'm in Ontario and might send mine their as well. 

Is this covered no cost via warranty?

I am currently getting around 1 misfire per 35 rounds.

And I am not able to extract after more than 3 rapid shots.

My front sight ramp was installed completely crooked and off centre....

I don't mind cleaning a gun, don't mind working a gun in, don't mind a small tweak......but this is pissing me off now.

[kenthecarp]

mount sweetness says
 "My front sight ramp was installed completely crooked and off centre....
I don't mind cleaning a gun, don't mind working a gun in, don't mind a small tweak......but this is pissing me off now."


wajo says
"I bought my 336SS through S.I.R./cabelas and will never do that again.
I believe they keep the best ones on the shelf and ship out the less desirable ones.
That's not to say that the guns are garbage,  it just might have a small nick here or wood not matching at all or whatever else a picky buyer would look for at the store."

So true, a perfect description of the BS I'm dealing with, it's sad because this has completely soured my opinion of Marlin.
I'm not even sure it can be repaired.

Wait a second here: it's going off the gunsmith today, I need to be positive.
I hope this guy is a magician.

mount sweetness PM sent

[mount sweetness]

Replaced my extractor and still have issues, shipping it back for refund tomorrow.  Tired of this thing.

I have a Williams Foolproof Peep FP39-TM.  Top mount for new 39A with scope mount screws.  Brand new in package.
Let me know if anyone wants it, PM me.

[wajo]

PM sent.

[kenthecarp]

Just recieved an email from the Marlin Gunsmith...

Just letting you know I have looked at your rifle and the lever was cracked. We will have to replace it and install and fit it.
THis will take a bit of time since Marlin is having a problem gettting their parts to canada

Allmost a month to the day since it was shipped, I'll wait with great anticipation for it's return.

Notes I included when it was shipped;

My Concerns

"Headspace
I included some spent cases. There is a spur on the end of the lever that has machined a groove in the bolt? Could there be a problem with the hardness of the bolt? I'm concerned as to why the bolt shows so much wear from the lever, ejector and cartridge cutoff, at only 500 ± rounds."

"Fail to Fire
About 20% of the time from the get go!"

"Fail to Extract
I need to carry a pocket knife to dig some of the shells out!"

"Fail to Eject
It seemed to work well at first then progressively got worse, shells fall off inside the receiver."

"Question
Why does the rear sight need to be set so far to the left? Are the sights crooked?"

This is my first new .22 rifle it cost over $700.00 it shows more wear and tear than any of the other 40+ year old rimfires I own.

Winchester Model 06 pump
Springfield Model 87A semi-auto
Mossberg Model 320B

Thanks Ken

[broknprism]

After reading all the posts, the problem seems obvious:  Marlin ships all their junk 39s to Canada.

Sorry, couldn't resist.