[Bo_Hunter]

Spent a few hours now researching and am coming up blank. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I was down at my dad's tonight and he has added yet another 39A to his collection. This one has us both stumped. It is a 39A with what appears to be a nickel receiver and barrel. The barrel is 1/2 round and 1/2 HEXAGON (not octagon). It it is not in great shape as a previous owner had decided that sandpaper was an acceptable polishing medium. Sigh. Anyway, we tried finding the year of manufacture by looking up the serial number (83xx). The best I could come up with for the serial number is that it is a 1939 first gen run. The thing I found as very odd is that the serial number is stamped into the end of the stock (yes the wood) that goes into the receiver. The bolt has an 8 stamped on it and the receiver has 3## stamped on it (combined, they match the # stamped in the stock).

Anyone have any insight into this particular model?

I didn't get pictures of the entire gun when I was down there. So, I'll go back this week and get full pics.

Thanks in advance!

 

[cajun56]

Welcome to MO's from the marshes of south Louisiana.
Yep! Marlin would put serial #'s inside of stocks, don't know when Marlin stopped it. I have a few Marlins with #'s stamped into stock like yours.
Thanks for the pictures!

 

[utvolsfan77]

I have a 1957 Model 39A and the serial number is stamped into the stock at the same location. I also have a 1973 Model 39M Octagon but I have not yet pulled the stock to check it.

 

[Steve_In]

Which end is HEX? Breech or muzzle?
You just never know what some folks will do.

I can't wait to see this.

 

[Bo_Hunter]

OK. Dad ran the 39-A by today and I got some better pics. We don't need to discuss the elephant in the room. I just shook my head and went on.

 

[Bo_Hunter]

Which end is HEX? Breech or muzzle?
You just never know what some folks will do.

I can't wait to see this.

New pics posted in the thread. Barrel end is the 1/2 hex end.

 

[Bo_Hunter]

Notice that the magazine tube is aluminum. A couple more pics included here.

 

[Dave Bulla]

You mentioned that the magazine tube is aluminum. I assume the inner piece, not the actual magazine housing. If so, that leaves two possibilities I'm aware of. First, a replacement/aftermarket tube. Second a tube made during or just after WWII. I've got a 1947 model 39A with an aluminum magazine tube and thought it was a replacement until I did research on it and found it is actually correct. If I recall, there were a couple years during the war when they didn't make any guns then a couple years where they had the aluminum tube due to brass being needed for the war effort.

Where your Dad's gun falls is anybody's guess. It's obviously some form of customized rifle with the barrel contour milled into that half hex shape and the nickel plating. Most likely the crescent butt plate was a modification also. Interesting though.

 

[Golphin]

The years they didn't make them was 1942, 43 and 44.

 

[Dave Bulla]

I'll have to check the date on mine. I've got two from the 40's. I know one is a '47 but will have to look at that other.

Edit

Just verified, mine is a 1947 like I thought. Golphin is correct about the 39a not being made in 1942, 43 & 44. Far as I can find, the first 3 years of production after that, (45, 46 & 47) they used aluminum magazine tubes.

 

[Bo_Hunter]

You mentioned that the magazine tube is aluminum. I assume the inner piece, not the actual magazine housing. If so, that leaves two possibilities I'm aware of. First, a replacement/aftermarket tube. Second a tube made during or just after WWII. I've got a 1947 model 39A with an aluminum magazine tube and thought it was a replacement until I did research on it and found it is actually correct. If I recall, there were a couple years during the war when they didn't make any guns then a couple years where they had the aluminum tube due to brass being needed for the war effort.

Where your Dad's gun falls is anybody's guess. It's obviously some form of customized rifle with the barrel contour milled into that half hex shape and the nickel plating. Most likely the crescent butt plate was a modification also. Interesting though.

Thank you! I was thinking the barrel was modified. As for the buttstock, I actually think that is original because it has the same partial serial # stamped into it as the receiver and bolt.
I'm seeing that there was a special 1960 chrome plated model, but there are various other posts where people have nickel models but no one seems to be sure what year they are. So, the mystery continues.
If this thing had a complete serial# it would make things easier.

Thanks again for your input!

 

[Bo_Hunter]

I'll have to check the date on mine. I've got two from the 40's. I know one is a '47 but will have to look at that other.

Edit

Just verified, mine is a 1947 like I thought. Golphin is correct about the 39a not being made in 1942, 43 & 44. Far as I can find, the first 3 years of production after that, (45, 46 & 47) they used aluminum magazine tubes.

Thank you. So, if the magazine tub is original to this gun, then that puts it in one of those years. Then, the question becomes did Marlin manufacture any nickel or nickel-plated 39As in those years. If the barrel was custom milled then someone could have easily also done a nickel plating on it as well. I am not sure how to tell if something has been plated or not. I would suspect that the factory stamping would be less prevalent if someone plated it aftermarket.

 

[Dave Bulla]

Far as I know, they did not and if you think about it, yours was nickel plated AFTER it was ground to that non standard shape so it's 100% NOT factory plated. I seems like you are hoping for some rare factory model but it's simply not what you have.

If you read some of the old magazines from the 50'and 60's, there are quite a few references to people plating guns as a "custom" feature. It was very popular with handguns. I remember my uncle's talking when I was a kid about how you could take pretty much any gun into a bumper shop and have it chrome plated. I don't think it was very difficult to find places to do nickel plating either.

As for the stock and crescent butt plate, there was no such factory stock at the time. Almost guaranteed it was modified by the same person who ground the barrel down. Fitting a crescent butt plate to a flat stock is simply a matter of removing wood to make it fit.