Me and my first lever action.............

[Bob Wright]

Interesting thread about lever action rifles prompts me to post this:

When I was very young, I had proved myself with my Daisy Red Ryder, which I saw as my first step to my Colt .45. Next in the process was to be a .22 Rifle. In approaching the subject as subtly as a young son can to his Dad, my Dad made it clear to me that any .22 rifle had to have a visible hammer. Hot Dog! Only two .22 rifles at that time had exposed hammers, the Winchester pump, and Marlin's 39A.

Now my mother was dead set against my having guns, so any I had had to be through my Dad's intercession. Very smoothly, for a boy of my age, I let it be known that I shot left handed, and the lever action rifle was the better choice. And shortly before Christmas, Dad and I went to Sears to get some hardware. The entrance we chose just happened to pass the Sporting Goods area. And, we sort of casually browsed the choices there. Then, when I was elsewhere, Dad was talking to the clerk.

Christmas morning, there it was! A Marlin 39A lever action repeater!






And, as I type this, it resides in the gun rack right above my desk.


Bob Wright

 

[arfmel]

That’s a beauty. I bet it made for a great Christmas morning.

 

[tom black]

Pure class there Bob.
Tom

 

[Mag-force]

Beautiful gun! their's something special about those lever rifles

 

[WendyZXZ]

Me and my Brother share ownership of our Dad's model 39 Marlin, we pass it back and forth between us. Excellent rim fire rifle!

 

[Pat-inCO]

My first lever action was also a Daisy Red Rider (with a SCOPE :shock: ) that I
got for my fifth birthday. It was several years before Mom calmed down on that.
It followed me around for a decade before it got lost in one of our moves.

Fast forward WAY more than twenty years and I got a Ruger 96/22. Trigger is a bit
heavy (yawn) but it just plain out works. Accuracy is as good as these old eyes allow.

HUMM!
Maybe I need to exercise it more to see if that trigger will smooth out. :wink:

 

[Goldstar225]

You were blessed with a wise father Bob.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

My first lever action.

I bought it with the money I made from the Lemonade Aid Stand :wink:

I then graduated to a Marlin 1892 like this one. Sorry to say that my Dad had to sell it when I was in the USAF. Oh yea I had refinished and reblued it while in school shop class.
Boy did I ever have a lot of good times with that rifle in the mid 50s. Think Chuck Conners and The Rifleman
Octagon barrel and a Buckhorn rear sight what more could a kid want????????????? :wink: :wink: :wink: Just an old rifle I paid $15.00 for

 

[bogus bill]

That Marlin 39A wasn't my first but I owned one just like it at about fifteen years old. I also bought a new Winchester 94 30-30 about the same year in 1956. Still have it. I like levers too.
https://i.postimg.cc/4N6Mr90x/Win-94-2359216.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/2SNckZT9/My-lever-actions.jpg

 

[jimd441]

Guess I'm just a slow learner - I was 55 before I got my 39A...

Jim

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I think I was 35 when I got mine. Still have it. Will go to my son when I'm gone.

Bob just out of curiosity, what's the manufacture date on yours, and when was the last time you shot it. I've got too many that don't get shot often enough.

 

[Pat-inCO]

I've got too many that don't get shot often enough.

Golly ding dang!
I'll bet there are a lot around here that can say that! :wink:

 

[Selena]

The 39A, Dad taught me to shoot with Gramps' Marlin. It was heavy and bigger than I was but in the right hands could drive nails at 50 meters. One of my cousins inherited it after the old man went to his reward but the memory of Gramps and Dad patiently telling me to "center the bead" and "fire between heartbeats" is mine alone and I cherish it.

 

[Big Old Boy]

Mine was a Ithaca 49 single shot wish I still had that gun.

 

[prairieviper]

Mine was a Ithaca 49 single shot wish I still had that gun.

My first gun was a Revelation, single shot, .410 gauge, shotgun. I still have it. My first rifle was the Ithaca Model 49 and like you, I wish I still had it. I talked about that gun a lot and my wife gave me a Model 72 repeater soon after we were first married. I still have it.

 

[Johnnu2]

You gotta love that first gun....!!! For those of us who are fortunate enough to still have ours, it's extra special and I certainly treasure mine, and ALL the memories that it keeps alive for me. And let's not forget those many trips to that great retailer that always seemed to have treasures of all sorts: SEARS.
Here's mine from 1957 approx...J.C. Higgins .22 s-l-lr 'super-lux' grade ; most of its life it wore a Weaver ".22" scope until I couldn't see thru it anymore..(recently refinished the wood):

 

[Heliman]

I was raised shooting bolt action rifles. My first rifle was a Savage single shot .22 when I was 10. I started deer hunting with a 98 Mauser re-barreled for .257 Roberts.

My first lever gun was a Winchester Big Bore 94 375 Win. Since then I have owned many lever guns. Now, just a Rossi 92 16” 357 mag.

Dave

 

[Rook]

That's a special old Marlin lever rifle Bob. Glad to see you were able to keep it all these years.

My Lever action rifles mean a lot to me to.

The one on top in the photo belonged to my great grandpa. It's a Marlin 1889 .38-40 with an octagon barrel that he bought new in 1893. My grandpa inherited it when great grandpa died and then my uncle on my mom's side of the family inherited the family guns when grandpa died. When my uncle died he left all his guns to me even though he had kids of his own. He knew his kids would sell the guns when he died. He and I had hunted for years together and he taught me how to reload when I was just 12 years old and he knew I would keep the guns in the family.

The one in the middle of the photo is a Winchester '94 .30-30 made in 1951 that belonged to my uncle.

The one at the bottom of the photo is one I bought back in the 70s and it's Marlin '94 .44 Mag.

 

[powder smoke]

My first real gun was a Winchester 94 3030. My little brother borrowed it when
I was doing my time for Uncle Sam in the us Army. Last time I ever laid eyes on it.
Somehow he missed placed it in the woods and never found it Grrrr. Got home on
leave I had him take me to the area he was hunting I looked for two days.
My theory is someone found it and took it home. ps

 

[Bob Wright]

I think I was 35 when I got mine. Still have it. Will go to my son when I'm gone.

Bob just out of curiosity, what's the manufacture date on yours, and when was the last time you shot it. I've got too many that don't get shot often enough.

If I'm not mistaken, 1952 was the year it left Marlin, maybe as late as 1953. Seems I got it in '53.

As to shooting, its been awhile. I'm not much of a hand with the long guns.

Bob Wright

P.S. Something seems wrong about the serial number/date. My rifle has an "L" prefix, which dates the manufacture as 1954. But my receipt for my Colt .45 is Sept. 1954, and I got my rifle before that. Hmmmm.............

 

[Jeepnik]

Like many my first "gun" was a Red Ryder. I figure most dads decided if you didn't put you eye out after a couple of years you could graduate to "real" guns.

Since I still have both eyes (a miracle I know) my first .22 was a single shot Winchester model 67. I still have it and take it out quite frequently. It brings back my childhood like nothing else can. But I have noticed that lately it just isn't as accurate as it was when I was a kid. In the intervening years someone has messed with the sights and they are all fuzzy.

 

[protoolman]

My first lever action was a .22 imported by Iver Johnson. Still have it.

 

[txramfan]

Bought my Marlin from a pawn shop. I was maybe 12 my dad and I went to look over the gun rack and there it was. Price was right because a prior owner had abused two screws.
It sits in my safe next to my latest lever action. Henry Long Ranger in 6.5 Creedmoor. Not a classic cartridge it worked on my first deer hunt 2 weeks ago.

 

[kmoore]

My first lever, was a used 94 in 30-30, made in 1978. I got it in 1982. The stock was a little dinged up, the receiver really rusty. Bore nice and shiny. I tore it apart, fixed stock dings with a wet rag and hot iron before refinishing it. Had it rechambered in 30-30 Ackley IP. I removed all bluing on receiver and barrel rings. Carried it for several years western Oregon deer hunting, never shot an animal with it. It is fun to shoot handmade lead or jacket bullets. The unfinished metal is still unfinished and not rusty. Several years ago I put a Williams rear peep sight and a taller front sight blade on it and I think it shoots as good or better than ever.
I did not part with it, but I replaced it's use for a newer to me gun as my walk in woods shed hunting etc. gun with another handy lever, a Navy Arms 1892 in 357. They just carry really well without a sling, easy to use as a lefty, fast to point and aim.

 

[Muley Gil]

Mine was a Ithaca 49 single shot wish I still had that gun.

That was my first real gun also. I still have mine.

My first repeating lever action was a Winchester M9422. Unfortunately, I sold it when I needed money. I replaced it 20 years later with a 1870-1970 M39, 20" octagon barrel.

My first centerfire lever action was a Marlin M1895. That one got sold too. Currently, I have a Navy Arms 1866 Yellow Boy .38 special that my dad left to me and a Rossi .44 magnum Trapper (16") 1892 that my wife bought me two years ago.

 

[Number9]

Bought my son a Marlin 39M for Christmas.. think it was in the mid to late 70's?

 

[6GUNSONLY]

A 39A was also my first .22, and I still have it as well. Christmas 1970, I was 12. I had asked for a .22 but there was no further talk about it. Christmas morning, no rifle visible, but there are four boxes of Remington Kleanbores on the hearth. I asked Dad, "what are these for?" - hopeful that a rifle was lurking about somewhere. Dad says, "Oh, I thought you could shoot them in that old single-shot Remington of mine." "Oh, ok, I said, more than a bit disappointed but trying to be grateful. I went on looking at a few other gifts there for me, a world globe, some clothes, and in my stocking was a neat Jon-e handwarmer (remember those?). Dad let me go on there for what seemed like quite a while before bringing out a long box with a big red ribbon around it. Inside was a brand new Marlin 39-A Centennial carbine, octagon barrel, brass buttplate and forend tip, absolutely the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Lots of small game fell to that little rifle over the years. I put a scope on it once, but it never seemed right on the little lever carbine and I took it off and sold it to a friend. It's still very accurate and can still do anything you'd need to do with such a rifle. Last time it drew blood was yeoman work, executing 15 trapped feral hogs we caught in a trap. Thanks for the memories, Bob. And dad...

 

[cpt-t]

I bought my Marlin 39-A, NIB in late 1963. It was the first gun, that I paid my own money for. I still have it and it still shoots and looks as good as it did when it was brand new. I have always been and still am very proud of it. I have shot it 1000`s of times over the years, and have never had any problems what so ever with it. ((( IMHO ))) You are just hard pressed to beat a Marlin 39-A.
ken