Need help with an old Marlin I found, not purchased yet.

[darcy32171]

It is 3.5 hrs away. Going to go look at it tomorrow morning. They said it is a Marlin Golden 39-A. The serial number started with R26 _ _ _. Correct me if I`m wrong, but that would make this one a 1957-58.
Check the picture of the left side action, there seems to be two holes I see, or am I seeing things? Are they suppose to be there???
Maybe I thought wrong: I thought the earlier ones had the more square lever(not round at the back).
I`m just looking for re-assurance that I`m not walking into a gun that has been pieced together to be made to look old.

 

[horseman2]

R is 1958. It is an early Golden model as shown on the barrel and it does have a gold trigger.
It looks very good for a 55 year old rifle.

Read this site (or print a copy) so you can do a "take down", check the internals, and put it back together.

www.rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=357328

About all you can check internally is to see that the springs have tension for the ejector, extractor, and loading port from the magazine tube.
The firing pin should fall out of the bolt if clean. Some bent the firing pin slightly so it would not fall out but that can be corrected.
Check the tube to see that there are no dents.
Check the muzzle closely to see that it has not been cleaned from the muzzle.
Ask the owner to take it apart as that will be an indicator if he took it apart to clean.
The wood looks original. It should have the white dot near the sling swivel at the butt but the have been know to fall out. Replacements are available.
Check the various screws to see that the heads are not burred from improper use of a screw driver.
He might have the back beep sight. The holes in the left side can be plugged, perhaps with 8 x 40's.
That rifle came with a scope rail but the Weaver #90 allows for mounting standard Weaver rings.
It appears to have the attachment to allow safe cocki ng with a scope on.
Take along a box of bullets in the event you get to test fire it. They hold 19 long rifles in the magazine.
It will be worth the drive . . . and good luck.

 

[IRONSIDES1]

The holes on the left side of the barrel near the receiver are 'factory'. Marlin made some of their 39A for Sears, Roebuck and they were factory drilled for a scope side mount rings similar to older Mossbergs and Cooeys that were drilled for scope side mounts. WGP in Edmonton carry filler screws. I had a similar Marlin and filled the holes with screws from WGP.

 

[Winnipeg Toymaker]

those holes are certainly not been put there for a single side mount . they are for a peepsight just like later Winchester levers had.. Cooey and Mossberg had 2 or 4 holes for mounting and they were about 4 inches apart. And from the pic, they look awful messy for a factory drilling and tapping.

 

[gunsaholic]

I had a Marlin 336 that had the holes in the side of the receiver for a peep sight (which it had on it). The holes on this gun do look kind of messy from the pic. Could be from use, could be someone had them drilled or could just be the way the camera makes them look. You will have to determine that with the gun in hand.