Rimfire Levers?

[rman]

That looks a lot like my 1952 39a except it is in better shape. That's a nice looking old Marlin! I just put a Lyman 17a on my newer Remlin 39a last week. The instructions said minor fitting may be required. After 30 minutes of filing, it fits the dovetail nicely. (Is that minor fitting?)

[singleshotcajun]

I bought another ramp for mine and left the factory sight on the original ramp.Yep, lots of filing to the dovetail on the Lyman for a good fit, I wish it would have been the same for the Lyman and the R92.I was ordering a new firing pin and hammer spring for the Marlin from Numrich so I decided to get another front sight ramp while I was at it.

[Ranch Dog]

I'm dealing with the rimfire blues, have been for almost a half dozen years. When BHO entered office, rimfire ammo dried up immediately in my area. I had a good stockpile but have worn it down over the years with a final coup de grâce occurring when two teen boys visited a month or so ago. These young fellows never get the chance to shoot and I let the bang away, through my remain 700 rounds of ammunition. This was shot through my Marlin 39A and Rossi 62SA.

I do have a reserve but it will only be shot through my grandson's Cricket. He still is a bit small for even that rifle but growing like a weed.

I'm not a plinker, my rimfires have been used for varmint control. Mainly turtles on my ponds, critters that wander near my home at night (armadillos & skunks), and racoons raiding my deer feeders.

I've owned the 39A because I'm a Marlin guy but honestly have never liked the rifle. I probably will rub some wrong but I've never understood why a rimfire has to be so durn heavy. Moving around on the pond in the 90° heat wears on you pretty quick. The little 62SA is better equipped for this work but is useless with the nighttime critter control as it lacks the facilities for optics. Both rimfires are honestly a little light for racoon work on the feeders. Out in the pastures, the racoons are no different than small feral hogs. Not like the urban trash can raiders, pasture racoons are tough to close the distance on and tough to kill. 70 yards is probably the average shot I make and it generally takes more than one shot to kill them.

Bottomline is that with the ammo shelves empty and as a fellow not willing to have rimfire ammo shipped in, I'm going to sell both. I have a complete brace of 1894CLs; a 218 Bee, 25-20 Win, & 32-20 Win with over a thousand brass cases for each. The CLs are lighter than my 39A so I've started using them to serve the needs previously filled by my rimfires. The added bonus of these centerfires is while sitting for a racoon kill, they have all scored on feral hogs. I have a cast bullet mold of my design for each and the casting & the reloading cost less than any rimfire ammo I can find even before shipping is applied. I have enough primers to last me until I'm 85 so I will need to do something before then if I continue to shoot.

As my grandson runs the Cricket out of ammo, I will just move him into the CLs. If rimfire becomes plentiful once again, and cheaper than reloading centerfire, I will let my grandson choose the rifle he wants to shoot and buy it for him.

[rman]

I think we all have the rimfire blues. Just before our fearless leader was re-elected, I bought 2 cases (10,500 rounds) of Federal Bulk from Midway USA. I've used up 1 case and have kept shooting by picking up a box or a brick whenever I can. I do like my Marlin 39A, but you're right - it's really heavy. That's a good thing for a cowboy lever action silhouette rifle, but not so good for knocking around. I have a Henry with a 20" octagon barrel that shoots almost as well and is much better for carrying. If I was heavy on the small caliber 1894s like you, I'd probably do what you're planning though.

[singleshotcajun]

For many years I shot Three Position Smallbore using European Smallbore target rifles such as a Vostok Ural,Suhl KK150 and a Valmet Finnish Lion. By comparison I found the 39A to be very light almost too light for good Offhand shooting. I can see a Henry Frontier model in my future.

[Ranch Dog]

I do like my Marlin 39A, but you're right - it's really heavy.

Yeah it weighs .7 lb more than my nilgai rifle, a Rossi Rio Grande chambered in 45-70 Govt!

[rman]

For many years I shot Three Position Smallbore using European Smallbore target rifles such as a Vostok Ural,Suhl KK150 and a Valmet Finnish Lion. By comparison I found the 39A to be very light almost too light for good Offhand shooting. I can see a Henry Frontier model in my future.

I think you'll like it sscajun. I've shot it and the 39a off the bench and they are about dead even in accuracy. It's a really slick little action and about all it needs for CLA silhouette is a little trigger work and a Williams Foolproof with target knobs. I bought the low profile one that slides on the grooved receiver. I may add a Lyman 17A front sight later. As long as you never hesitate during the upstroke on the lever, it will never jam. My Rossi 92 should be a good mate for it in pistol caliber.