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39A (with old eyes) Outshoots a Ruger 10-22 (With young eyes)

5K views 30 replies 20 participants last post by  Tatersoup 
#1 ·
I went to the range this morning with the intent of shooting my postal match targets at 50 yards with my scoped 39A. But as luck would have it, it started pouring down rain, and that shot my idea of shooting the paper Postal Match targets. So I had the target set up at 25 yards and was making some scope adjustments when a very nice young man, about my daughter's age, showed up with a customized Ruger 10-22. Since it was pouring cats 7 dogs, he and I were the only ones shooting.

He put up a target next to mine at 25 yards and was making some adjustments to the scope on the 10-22. He asked me if I was shooting a Henry, no, I said, it's a Marlin 39A. So after shooting a bit he said, that little gun of yours shoots some pretty good groups. Yes, said I, it's very accurate especially at 25 yards. We talked and he was telling me he had $1000 in his 10-22, it having just the original action and he had a target barrel installed and what looked like some kind of tactical stock. He said it's really a sweet shooter. I said, well, you have $1000 in your gun, and my gun is 36 years old and cost me right at $100 when I bought it, let's see how it compares with your target barrel. The smack-down was on!

I put up 2 Caldwell orange peel targets, and I said let's both shoot 10 shots, as fast or slow as you like, using 4X scope. I have a Weaver K4-W on my gun, he had some 3-9 scope on his. So we commenced to shooting. We both shot ammo we brought. I had Federal red box bulk, and he had Remington Golden Bullet bulk.

When the smoke cleared I had 10 shots in one nice jagged hole. He had 10 shots in the 1" inner circle, but not all 10 were touching. The winner was a 1975 Marlin 39A shot by a very myopic 60 year old, over a tricked out Ruger 10-22 shot by a much clearer seeing 30 year old. Who says Marlins aren't accurate! ;D
 
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#5 ·
What a mean man you are!..............You just weren't playing fair with that youngster, to be leading him into a match with you holding the upper hand.............but you knew that, didn't you?

Tom
 
#6 ·
Back in the 60s, the small town I lived in had a fairly active shooting group. Nearly everyone had a target version of the .22 rimfire of some sort. Heavy bbl. Rem., Win. 52s, Mossbergs, low walls, Martinis, you name it. I finally scraped up enough for a Remington Junior Target. It had a Redfield receiver sight on the rear and my dealer friend suggested a Lyman 17A on the front. It worked WELL. The standard wager was a dollar each in the pot, winner take all. I usually took the money if I was there. One guy even built a 2" diameter barreled single shot of some kind after his 52 couldn't do the job. I did loose to a Mountie equipped with Lymans on both ends one day. I later duplicated that rifle for a small varnmint car gun. I got hooked on quail and finally traded it in as I needed some boot to convert my little Browning side by side into a new Superposed. In retrospect, I should have looked for a used Superposed and kept the Marlin....Anyway, I have had a lot of respect for the 39s for a long time-they work WELL! Good day, Jack
 
#7 ·
I have always said a 39A will shoot with any and I do mean any target .22. I have shot against many of them in matches and have never had one to beat me. When I was younger, about 30 or so years ago, I would sit up targets of playing cards, one card with edge facing me at 20 yards and with iron sights on my 39A, split the card. I also set up a pocket knife with the edge of the blade facing me with a balloon on each side of the knife and bust both balloons with one shot spliting the bullet on the knife blade. Not many people I knew could do that even with their target .22s with special target sights. I used the factory equiped iron sights and nothing else. I will put the 39a up against any .22 made for accuracy. Never shot anything that compares to it. I have a Ruger 10/22 and it is a fun gun to shoot and after I put a Hogue embedded stock on it, it got pretty accurate but it still will not shoot with my 1965 39A. I also used to toss quarters in the air and shoot them with a 39A. I just expect the 39A to hit anything I point it at and to do it consistantly. I think the micro groove barrel was the best idea Marlin ever had for their .22s.
 
#8 ·
Fantastic-Since I got my 52 year old 39a -my 10/22 has not left its cabinet-nor has my Krico 260.
Not only does it feel right -it has the sweetest action and accurate..
I cannot put it down.
Other club members are now looking at purchasing 39a -I believe Ruger 10/22 and 10/22 hybreds and CZ .22 are the most common sporting rimfire over here in the UK.
 
#9 ·
Went to the range yesterday to adjust the XS ghost sights on a 1984C .357 and took along my 1960 39A Mountie. Guy next to me was shooting a scoped .223 at 50 yds and made the comment that he had just put 7 out of 10 in the bull. I took out my Mountie and put 10 of 10 in the bull (4x scope). He checked my target and said I think I'll get one of those little "Winchesters". I said go ahead, but I'll stick with these Marlins. ;D ;D

CJ
 
#10 ·
Funny thing is, I just bought a Model 49 semi-auto. I've always wanted one of them just for plinking. This one looks to have a nice walnut stock complete with the bullseye. I have been shooting my 22's a lot lately including the Ruger Single Six and my semi-auto pistol. Good, cheap fun.
 
#12 ·
There have been several exhibition/trick shooters that have used 39's over the years.

I have always thought that the 39A was so accurate because it has a relatively heavy barrel. Mine is about as heavy as a lot of target barrels. I remember back in the 70's when my friend and I belonged to a shooting range. He had a stock 10-22 and I had the 39A, we shot indoors with iron sights, he couldn't begin to shoot as well as I did. And it wasn't him it was the gun. When I let him use the 39A his groups tightened right up.
 
#13 ·
Halwg said:
Funny thing is, I just bought a Model 49 semi-auto. I've always wanted one of them just for plinking. This one looks to have a nice walnut stock complete with the bullseye. I have been shooting my 22's a lot lately including the Ruger Single Six and my semi-auto pistol. Good, cheap fun.
Hal,
Where did you ever find a Model 49?............. Can I ask what you paid for it?.........Thats a pretty rare Marlin, in my mind.

Tom
 
#14 ·
Yep, Annie Oakley shot a 39A.

That is awesome Hal! Way to represent with that 39! ;)

I will say this - my Ruger 10/22T (.920" hammer forged 20" barrel) is all factory and it will outshoot my 39A. BUT - it also has a 4-16x50mm scope on it. I can literally shoot flies at 25 yards.
The ONLY reason my 39A can't shoot flies @ 25 yards, is I can't see the dang things! I have a Skinner peep on the rear and a Lyman 17AHB up front with a Shaver insert.
I can walk a spent 20 gauge shell from 5' in front of me to out past 50 yards and still hit it - OFFHAND!!!

My Ruger LOVES the CCI Tactical 40 grainers. My 39A LOVES the CCI Standard 40 grain solids.
I should buy stock in CCI!


I can't wait to see some POSTAL MATCH targets!!!
;D
 
#15 ·
There's a reason that there is a million dollar after-market for 10/22s.

They need it. ;D

Jon
 
#16 ·
Tomray said:
Hal,
Where did you ever find a Model 49?............. Can I ask what you paid for it?.........Thats a pretty rare Marlin, in my mind.

Tom
I just happened to run across it on an auction site. Nobody else bid and I got it for $125, which I figured was too much, but I wanted one and it looked in good shape. We shall see.
 
#18 ·
Anyone who puts a grand into a 10/22 is not very smart. A grand will buy you a lot of 22 that is not a Ruger 10/22. I swore at and finally off on Rugers after owning 13 over the years I now own NONE. I have found other brands just shoot better then most Rugers do and that goes for a lot of their guns.
 
#19 ·
Yep, but this young man is a 10-22 fanatic. He presently has 3 and is looking for another to turn into a target rifle. I hope I opened his eyes a bit showing him what a stock gun is capable of. I know the 39's are relatively expensive for a 22, but I think they are worth it.
 
#20 ·
jh45gun said:
Anyone who puts a grand into a 10/22 is not very smart. A grand will buy you a lot of 22 that is not a Ruger 10/22. I swore at and finally off on Rugers after owning 13 over the years I now own NONE. I have found other brands just shoot better then most Rugers do and that goes for a lot of their guns.
Many years ago I was a big fan of the Rugers but then they started having problems. The last few years have seen their guns make a great improvement and the 77s are now very good and accurate guns again and even the Mini 14 is now a real shooter. They had barrel problems but at least they identified the problems and now they are very accurate and handy little guns. I have a Mini that is a couple of years old and I put a Hogue stock on it and now it will shoot sub-MOA at 100.
 
#21 ·
I'm on my fifth (or sixth) 10/22, and they have gotten progressively worse with each new one. The newest one is the pits. I'm going to sell it and a few other 22's and get what I should have bought years ago!
 
#22 ·
My 39A Shoots good but my 10/22 with Green mt barrel will out shoot it at 50 yds. I wouldn't part with the 39A. Like it so much I bought a 36D. Not got to shoot the 39D enough to tell if it's good as the 39A. Now CZ's are built like American guns of long ago. Not many companies build steel and walnut guns that we can afford. Don't have much in the 10/22. Less than 60 dollars new, Barrel 80 and stock around 100. It's a four digit s number.
 
#23 ·
Halwg said:
I just happened to run across it on an auction site. Nobody else bid and I got it for $125, which I figured was too much, but I wanted one and it looked in good shape. We shall see.

Cool...............Thats an interesting gun. Enjoy it.................do you have any pictures of that gun?

Tom
 
#25 ·
JMOfartO:

I love hearing neat stories about how accurate our Marlin 39A's are.......

I'm thinking, as with most things, any particular choice in rimfire rifles is just a subjective thing...

For example, I'm an old fart (68)..

My first 22cal rifle was a single shot Remington given to me on my 12th birthday by my Grandmother..

Never been without a 22cal rifle of some type since..

My choices for my plinking pleasure in my old age have settled down to basically 4 different 22 rifles, and those choices do not include the ONE model I originally bought when I started getting "back into" rim fire plinking..

The missing rimfire rifle is a Nylon 66.

I've had 2 Nylon 66's over the decades and they were excellent... Always reliable, always surprisingly accurate using the factory sights.. So when I hear rim fire rifles calling my first thought was I needed another Nylon 66.

I found a like new Nylon 66 for a reasonable price and when I got it home and started shooting it I was surprised, and not pleased, to find that I simply could not shoot it very accurately.. The problem was of course ME, in that my declining vision and shaky hands for some reason simply didn't give the Nylon 66 much to work with.

On the contrary my Buddy could shoot the lights out with it, and immediately decided he needed one too, and asked me to locate one just like it on-line.

During my research for a Nylon 66 I kept running up on comments about how "good" the Marlin 39A is..

So, when we were at a gun show in Savannah, Ga. and a pristine 1996 Marlin Original Golden was offered at $400 I told my buddy if he wanted my Nylon 66 he could have it for what I had paid for it. ($300).

So, he has the Nylon 66 and loves it, and I have my 39A and love it... Actually I really, really love it. :)

My pleasure with the 39A led me to consider a Mountie, and in that search I found a like new model 39 Century Limited.... I really, really love it too.. It's not the tack driver the 39A is, but it's neat, quite accurate, and fun to shoot.

I also have a couple of Browning SA22's and one Winchester 63 that I am very fond of.

My pleasure with the little rimfire stash I have now is such that I'm not looking for another rimfire rifle any more. Not saying if one "calls me" I won't buy it, I just feel I have some very good guns and can't think of any new, or different rimfire rifle I have an urge for.

Two guns I never even considered were the Ruger 10/22, or a Henry.

I know the Ruger's and Henry's are well thought of, and I know there are a zillion happy campers out there who swear by their Rugers and Henry's.

But here in S.E. Ga both are as common as deer ticks, and I have always enjoyed having something just a little bit "different" in such things.

I think about the "prettiest" little rimfire I have is one of my Century Limiteds. (I have two)..

Just ramblin', no offense to Ruger & Henry owners.

Jesse

 
#26 ·
Ditto what you said about the 39As. They are just special.

That is a beautiful rifle you have there. I need to find me one. I think I really need one. I know I really need one. Gotta get one.
 
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