My favorite rimfire plinker....

[PX15]

Well..

Being old and retired (on a fixed income) my enchantment with shooting my centerfire pistols/revolvers for pleasure has been diminishing with each passing price increase of centerfire ammo.

My first gun at 12 years of age was a Remington single-shot 22cal. rifle.. In the ensuing decades I have always had one or more 22cal. guns in my home, but had lost interest in shooting them in favor of my 38's/9's/45ACP.

About a year ago in finally sunk into my feeble old brain that 22cal ammo was still within my budget, and so I started shopping around for a good 22cal. "plinker".

Well, I found 7 of 'em...

(2 Browning SA22's/2 Marlin 39A's/1Winchester 63/& two 1970 Century Limiteds).

I really enjoy shooting all of them.. I have scopes on the 1996 39A and the Winchester 63, and one of my CL's has an all steel Redfield Model 70 peep sight.

IMO the CL is a "purty" little thing... It was only made in 1970, so this model doesn't have the "rebounding hammer and cross block safety" some Marlin lovers aren't too crazy about..

Basically a "blinged-up" "Mountie" the extra brass touches and octagon barrel just make the Century Limited a bit special.

Well, to me anyway.

Turns out the 1970 Century Limited w/peep sight is awesomely accurate... Easy to adjust for different distances, and just seems to "fall" on the X ring with little effort. (I use a .040 Skinner aperture).

I only shoot from 50 yards, or less. I don't hunt, and I have my own "berm" or small firing range on our property. I can step out the back door, walk an acre so so down the hill and blast away to my hearts content. I see no sense in shooting if I can't see the target, and at almost 69 years old I find 50 yards is pretty much max for me..

If I want to hit the paper.

Just a tip for any old shooters who might read this thread...

Cataract surgery is your friend... I had both eyes done a couple of months ago, and surprisingly at almost 69 my distance vision is again 20/20..

Here's a few photos of my favorite Century Limited.

Not saying the CL is the best 22 cal rifle in the world, and certainly no better than the Marlin Model 39 Mountie...

Just saying it's the best 22 cal rifle, FOR ME, for my particular shooting pleasure I've run up on yet*..

Jesse

* Always looking...

 

[husker]

Nice. I have to walk to my car, & drive over about 25 hills to shoot :-(

 

[Hanshi]

I hear you on being retired. My first gun was a Remington single shot .22. It is the M514. I'd like to learn the mfg date but the model is missing from the Rem website.

I finally got a Marlin Golden 39A in the early 1960s. I still have both and never stopped shooting the 514. The old Marlin, however, is a bonafide tack driver.

 

[PX15]

Myamoto:

I'm a big 39A fan too..

Here's my 1996 39A. (and one of my CL's)




And I just bought this 1950 39A earlier this week..



I only paid $175.00 for the 1950 39A, but it has some issues, (I think the breech block needs replacing).. I have a new breech block on the way, and if that doesn't fix it, I'll just take it to a gunsmith and have him take a look at it.

I figure a 1950 39A in the shape of this one (wood/barrel, etc.) is probably worth $350-400.00 or so if working properly, so I don't mind putting more money into getting it repaired.

I just really, really like the old 39A..

Best Wishes,

Jesse

 

[Sock Puppet]

Beautiful rimfires, guys! Someday....

 

[Hanshi]

PX15
You have an enviable M39 collection. Congrats.

 

[PX15]

Myamoto:

Thanks! It seems these Marlin Model 39's of all variations are habit forming..

If I had to suggest one Marlin 39 to anyone just getting the "fever" I'd say to look around for a good 1970 "Century Limited"..

Century Limited's don't cost much more (if any) than standard (good) 39A's, or Mounties, but they offer the octagon barrel (a feature I particularly seem to be fond of), a bit of "bling" in the various brass features unique to the model, and for lack of a better term, seem just a bit less common, or seen a bit less often than the others.

There were over 34,000 (guessing) 1970 CL's made so they are NOT rare, and seem to show up on GunBroker quite often.

I have two good CL's, so now I'm looking around for another older 39A.. Just gotta be patient till the right one, at the right price shows up.

Best Wishes,

Jesse

P.S. SockPuppet... All you have to do is just get OLD like me with nothing better to do than shoot 22rifles in the backyard..

 

[351 WINCHESTER]

Nice guns for sure. Did you work at Hillard?

 

[hardluk1]

Good loking pair of lever rifles you have there. Just something about the feel of older firearms.

 

[PX15]

351 Winchester:

Hey, I thought a 351 was the small block Hi-po Ford Cleveland engine? I remember back in '71-72 my wife and I were looking at new cars and the Gran Torino with the small block 351 "Cleveland" was looking pretty good.

And, yep. I worked at Hilliard from May '69-until my retirement in Jan 2000.

Best Wishes,

Jesse

 

[jbkebert]

Nice looking pair of rifles there.

 

[PX15]

jbke: Thanks!

Here's a few photos of my wife's only 22cal. rifle..

It's a Stevens Favorite Model 71. JoAnn had wanted one of these for a long time and I found this one on GunBroker in Wa. state in like new condition..

I surprised her with it, and she loves it..

We've been married now for almost 44 years, and she's been a "gun person" from Day one.. In fact when I run up on another gun I can't live without, but don't have the money for, she loans me some of hers.. How great is that?

Jesse

 

[hardluk1]

PX15 if you think a 351 cleveland is a small block try to drop one into a mustang with out getting the plasma cutter and wielder out. hehe. Way closer to a BB chevy than any ford of the day.

 

[PX15]

hardluk1:

My apologies, I'm not generally a "Ford man", and I just thought the 351 was a small block like the 289..

I've always been a Pontiac kinda guy, and I was always confused about whether or not the 389/400 was a "small block" or "big block".. I thought the 326 was the small block, and the 389 and up were all "big blocks", but at some point I was told the 326/389/400 were all "small blocks" while he 421ci and up were considered "big blocks".

Here's a couple of photos of the Firebirds JoAnn and I had. The white 1967 400HO was my first new car. I bought in in late 1967. (I think the photo was taken around 1970-71) The Vedoro Green 1968 400HO we found and had restored around 1980.

We really hated it when GM dropped the Pontiac line.. We were all dedicated Pontiac folks.

Best Wishes,

Jesse

 

[CraigC]

Good looking Marlins! I looked at a very nice short barrelled 39A this week and it was very difficult not to bring it home. Very slick and in good shape.

The 351Cleveland IS a big block. Same "Y" block as the 390, 400M or both (fuzzy on those details). The 351Windsor is the small block but the 260, 289 and 302 are smaller still.

 

[PX15]

Craig C:

My ignorance continues to astound even me.... I always thought the only difference between the "Windsor" and the "Cleveland" was stuff like better heads, carb, etc.. Never had a clue one was a small block and one was a big block..

Hey, that "short barreled" 39A couldn't have been a "Mountie"?

I loves "me" Marlins... Here's a photo (again?) of the 1950 39A I recently bought.

Best Wishes,

Jesse

 

[hardluk1]

PX15 Just pull'n your chain. Nice photos of cars and JoAnn. Good ol days. 396/375 nova back then, wife had a 68 dark green bird rag top. Wish I had either today.

 

[CraigC]

Hey, that "short barreled" 39A couldn't have been a "Mountie"?

Were they marked as such? I thought it might've been a Mountie but I thought there were marked. This one was just marked 39A. Barrel was 18" or 20".

I always thought the only difference between the "Windsor" and the "Cleveland" was stuff like better heads, carb, etc..

Nope, the Cleveland and Windsor motors were completely different, except for displacement. The Cleveland didn't make it past the `70's but the Windsor lasted until the 4.6 and 5.4 modular motors. It was the optional V8 in the F150 into the `90's. I'm rusty on Ford motors but I do remember that much.

 

[PX15]

CraigC:

I've only been "into" Marlin Model 39's for less than a year, and my knowledge of the specific models is very limited..

All of the 39A's I've run up on have the longer 24" barrels, and all of the Mounties and Century Limiteds have had 20" barrels.. Which I realize means absolutely nothing.

I know just enough about Marlin 39's to spout out bad information.

Jesse

P.S. As apparently I've been doing on the Ford engines...

 

[PX15]

hardluk 1:

When I had my 67 Firebird I had a friend (in Melbourne, Fl.) who had a 1970 Challenger with the 383 Magnum.. I thought my bird was sorta fast until I rode in his Dodge..

Later he wound up with a fire engine red Nova 396/375 hp (like yours I guess), and it was awesome too, but rode like a truck.. Actually a truck with bad shocks.

Best Wishes,

Jesse