Solving Extraction, Ejection, and Feeding Problems on the Marlin 39A

As you probably know, the Marlin 39 Series goes back a bundle of years. It was Marlin’s first lever-action .22 capable of interchangeably feeding Short, Long, or Long Rifle ammo and was designed by L. L. Hepburn. Originally introduced as the Model 1891, it developed into the takedown Model 1892 (another Hepburn patent #584177) and further evolved into the Model 1897, which reportedly was Annie Oakley’s favorite .22.

The ’97 remained in production until 1915, when a syndicate intent on making machine guns for World War I acquired Marlin (Marlin-Rockwell). After peace arrived in Europe, what had been the original sporting-arms branch of Marlin was taken over by John Moran, who wisely decided to leave machine guns behind and just as wisely kept his name off the new company he formed, The Marlin Firearms Corporation. The first Model 39 appeared in Marlin’s 1922 catalog.

If you find a copy of the catalog in a library or purchase a copy of Colonel William Brophy’s great book on the history of Marlin Firearms’and I believe every gunsmith should have one’a careful reading of page 269 will reveal that the Model 39 was actually designed by Marlin-Rockwell before the Moran deal went through. Any examples of the rifle stamped "Marlin-Rockwell" are exceedingly rare, and will bring a premium price from a collector.

What I’ll refer to temporarily as the Marlin-Rockwell Model 39 was identical to the octagonal-barrel Model 1897, and was in production from 1922 until 1936. It was replaced in 1939 by the Model 39A. (The suggested retail price at the time was $29.75.) Among other improvements, the 39A was equipped with anew ejector that rid the rifle of the single ejector spring in the Model 39, and the new 39A could digest high-velocity rounds.

This is a good time to to pass on a few words of caution: If you ever get a Model 39 in for service that does not have "HS" stamped in front of its serial number, be on the lookout for a cracked bolt. This happens all too often because of a horizontal cut located at the bottom of the bolt that weakened it.

A subsequent change in machining practice eliminated the offending cut, but high-velocity .22 ammo should never be used in any Model 39 that lacks the "HS." After dozens of cosmetic changes, commemorative issues, and the introduction of the Micro-Groove barrel in 1954, the 39-Series passed the 2,000,000 manufactured mark in 1984, and the 39A remains in production today.

As this is written, Marlin has no intention of discontinuing it, so you never know when a Marlin Model 39A might be carried through your shop’s door. Takedown and Field Stripping If you haven’t already noticed, I am departing somewhat from my usual disassembly/reassembly format for this article. Instead, I’m concentrat- Many owners of the rifle ignore or overlook the precleaning instructions printed in the owner’s manual, thus causing one of the most frequent complaints gunsmiths are asked to resolve.

A ing on troubleshooting and repairs. The reason for this is the large number of readers who have requested troubleshooting help on this model. And besides, all the takedown information you need already exists in at least two other places. One of those is The NRA Guide to Firearms Assembly; the other is Gun Digest’s Book of Disassembly for Rimfire Rifles. I will, however, mention something about field stripping.

All the instructions I’ve seen state that the takedown screw can be backed out with a quarter and doesn’t come out all the way. The fact that it doesn’t come all the way out is universally true. But saying that it can be loosened with a coin between your fingers makes the process sound easy, and that "ain’t necessarily so" with factory-fresh rifles; the Marlin assemblers turn that screw in nice and tight. A rifle that has been dismantled a few times and shot a bit may not have a tight-screw problem.

To keep the field stripping easy, always back off the takedown screw one-eighth of a turn after you reassemble the gun. Another thing: After the takedown screw is loosened, the disassembly instructions might tell you to strike the buttstock with the heel of your hand to separate the two halves of the receiver. A better way is the way a Bfactory service manager told me to do it.

That is to place a folded towel on your workbench, take a firm hold on the buttstock, and then gently and repeatedly tap the left side of the barrel aft of the front sight on the padding. Make It Clean Marlin issued an advisory awhile back that should be religiously followed. The company says the rifle should never be cleaned without first depressing the ejector with a small tool, holding it down, and locking it there with a turn of the rivet immediately forward of the ejector.

The rivet can be turned with a small screwdriver. Unfortunately, this advisory isn’t always followed and results in two of the most frequent complaints regarding malfunctions. You’ll understand what they are and what happens to cause them later on. I’ve been told that 90 percent of the Model 39A rifles that are returned to the factory for service arrive there filthy. This is due partly to the nature of the .22, but is primarily the result of owner neglect or the use of the cheapest ammunition the owner can find.

In any case, here’s a little "secret" that will cure the vast majority of malfunctions that plague the Marlin Model 39A: Clean it thoroughly. Extraction and Ejection Problems But what if the problem is more than just an accumulation of dirt? There’s no more appropriate place to start than with the number-one complaint’extraction problems. And by that I mean extraction problems that persist after the rifle has been cleaned and its chamber has been polished.

Working with magnification, see if the extractor (#23) is flush with or (preferably) slightly below its slot in the bolt (#2). It’s supposed to be, and no matter how hard the owner insists that "nobody’s taken this gun apart," don’t believe it. The extractor/bolt relationship being correct, the extractor itself maybe out of gauge. Proper gauge is determined with feeler gauges, with the chamber empty and the bolt closed. If a .0290-inch gauge fits under the extractor, the gap is too wide.

When a .0260-inch gauge fits snugly under the extractor, all is in order. An out-ofgauge extractor can be bent to conform, but don’t use heat to do so. After extraction come ejection problems. Fired and unfired .22 rounds can and do become stuck in the chamber if it’s rough, fouled, or enlarged. There’s a right way and a wrong way to remove them. The right way is to open the bolt, raise the cartridge guide (#13), insert the tip of a pocket knife or a dental pick under the rim, and pull the blockage clear.

Literally hundreds of Model 39A owners persist in using another method. They open the bolt, insert a rod at

the muzzle, and push. Sometimes they break off the rod, which can leave an unpleasant surprise in the barrel for you or a factory repair technician to discover. Or sometimes they push too hard, and the end of the rod enters the receiver with enough force to break the ejector (#18) or bend the cartridge guide. Sometimes both are damaged. Without exception, in a Model 39A, nothing can lead to ejection problems quicker than a banged-up or loose ejector. Loose ones can be retightened with their screws (#20).

A damaged ejector should be replaced in part or in total. Feeding Problems While the haphazard use of a rod to dislodge a stuck shell more often affects ejection, it can also cause feeding problems by knocking the cartridge guide out of adjustment. I usually pull an on-range test to check for the possibility of a bent guide by cycling through a few live rounds without discharging them. Then I examine the noses of the bullets.

If I discover a dent or a scuff on either their upper or lower surface, I assume the guide is out of adjustment. What then? Remove the guide, deburr it with a wire wheel, and polish it. Reinstall the guide and tighten its screw (#14) securely. The guide has to be fastened tightly for the next step to take place. If the bullet indicates marring at the top, bend the guide down so its upper end is flush with the top of the chamber.

If the bullet is stubbing low, bend the guide upward until its upper end is dead centered with the chamber. After making any guide adjustments, don’t fail to loosen the guide screw. If you forget to back it off, the guide won’t work because it can’t move. Rarely, a bent finger lever (#24) can cause feeding problems by throw- A lever passing this tap exam might still be bent at one of three or four critical angles. Data on these and their exact location in the lever is not available from Marlin.

A replacement lever fresh from the factory will most assuredly be correct. If you have one or order one, you can measure the bent lever angle against the lever you know isn’t bent, and then adjust the bent one to match. (Again, no high heat, please.) But don’t get me wrong here; reforming a bent lever without the factory jig made for the purpose (which is not available to gunsmiths) is no cinch. If that discourages you from trying, install a lever and either toss the old one or send it to Marlin to be straightened.

There’s a final cause of feeding problems, but this one is extremely rare: That’s a broken or weakened spring inside the inner magazine tube. If the cartridges fail to reach the cartridge guide, they’re hanging up in the tube. Replace the spring and they won’t anymore. Misfires Misfires area common complaint with the Model 39A. In fact, misfires in general are more common with rimfire ammo than with factory-produced ing off the timing of the carrier (#8).

A clue that the lever is bent is if it has too much vertical play with the action completely closed. A verification that the lever is bent comes from placing the suspect on a true surface’a square of 1/ 4-inch plate glass is ideal’and seeing if it wobbles in any direction by tapping it with a fingertip at each end and at several points along its outer edges.

The ejector’s retaining-screw heads are located on the right side of the receiver. centerfire ammunition. In the 39A, misfires are usually traced to a breech that’s too heavy or too loose. Further defined, too heavy means too little headspace and too loose indicates excessive headspace. And, believe me, it’s much, much easier to correct too loose than too heavy. You’ll need .22 caliber go and nogo gauges, a smooth-cut file, and some polishing compound.

Depending on the task at hand, you’ll also need shim stock, a TIG welder, or solder, cyanoacrylate glue, and glue solvent. For checking headspace, prepare yourself to perform repeated assemblies and disassemblies of the receiver halves so the bolt can be activated and locked in battery with the finger lever. As you’ll see, the bolt wears a radius on its right front end.

When too much headspace is the problem, that radius can be carefully filed down, then polished until the go gauge affirms the condition has been corrected. Correcting tight headspace de- If not flush, the upper side of the extractor should be installed slightly below the top of the bolt to avoid malfunctions. mands greater skill, more care, and more time. That’s because the radius must be built up, properly contoured, and polished until the go gauge tells you to quit.

This build-up can come from applying metal with a TIG welder or applying a shim strip with silversolder. The strip might offer some advantage over a naked weld, because it will tend to conform to the radius. The aforementioned glue can be used to hold the shim in place as long as you also have the appropriate solvent on hand to completely clear off the adhesive from all surfaces prior to soldering. And remember, no heat is to be applied to secure a permanent bond until after the bolt has been totally stripped.

Whether you have to work the bolt down or build it up, it must maintain the original contour of the radius when you’re finished. There are other causes for misfires. Fortunately, none are anywhere near as tedious to fix as headspace. One is a broken or bent firing pin (#28). Bending can shorten a pin. A shorter pin can cause light hits on the rim and no ignition of the primer compound. Check the pin for straightness on a true surface. Bent pins can be straightened. Broken ones must be replaced.

How did this pin get bent or broken? In all likelihood, the rifle’s owner, that same guy who assured you no one had taken the gun apart, didn’t tell you the truth. In the denied takedown or reassembly process, the perpetrator could have bent the Marlin’s hammer-spring adjusting plate (#39), thereby lessening its tension and causing light hits. It’s as likely the perp nipped a coil or two off the spring (#38) and compounded the possibility in an amateurish attempt to improve trigger pull. Replace both components.

Some problems related to a bent lever don’t cause misfires, but a crooked lever can cause roughness in the action. I’ve already gone through what you can do about bent levers. And Finally, The Most Common Complaint The single most common problem I hear about with the Marlin Model 39A’the one I get most emails about and the most calls to the Technical Hotline’is a loose lever. Fortunately, in this case, the cure is simple: Tighten the lever screw (#25) and replace the spring (#26). All repairs should be so easy. I