the little round as well. To say we are addicted to this swift little cartridge is an understatement.
As much as I love the Mach 2 round, I still have an af- finity for the 22 LR. Twenty-Twos are shot a lot around our place, and generally a 22 rimfire of some sort will go on most varminting trips west. And somehow, guns chambered for the iconic 22 LR cartridge keep showing up in the gun room. THE LAST THREE MARLINS
Since acquiring my first one as a kid, there have been three other 39A Marlins to come my way that stand out. In ascending order of significance they are: a full-sized rifle I bought from a guy in a gun shop who was trying to trade it on something. I in turn traded this 39 to my buddy Don Duff for part payment on a utility trailer he built for my Mule. The trailer is great and Don loves the rifle. As I don’t really know why I bought this particular rifle in the first place, we are glad it has a good home.
The second 39A is a Mountie. Although Brock’s first rifle was a Marlin “Little Buckaroo” single-shot, his Mountie was the first gun he ever purchased at a gun show with, mostly, his own money (I made the arrangement as he was pretty young at the time but for all he knew at the time he’d made the deal). This straight-stocked 22 wears a Williams receiver sight and is, ironically, one year older than my first 39A, hav- ing an L prefix in its serial number. One’s first gun show gun is a significant step toward manhood in the gun culture and that makes this rifle special to both Brock and me. The latest Marlin to grace my hands has a story behind it that spans nearly 70 years. As near as we know, this 39A, with its case colored receiver and lever, was built in 1943 or ’44. It has a B prefix in its serial number. It was the first new gun that a man named Charlie Gillis ever purchased. When Ken Hackathorn was a kid his family lived next to Charlie in Marietta, Ohio. (If you don’t know who Ken is, Google his name.) Ken’s dad was not a gun guy but Charlie was, and Ken spent a lot of time hanging out around the Gillis house. Charlie eventually took Ken shooting, and this 39A was the first gun Ken ever fired, at about age 10 or 11. Ken also killed his first squirrel with this rifle. This 39A (as well as an S&W K22 revolver) is one of the guns that launched Ken into the world of firearms where he has become a true icon. I met Ken in about 1977 and bunked weekends with Charlie for many years in Marietta when I went over there to shoot IPSC and later IDPA matches. We all spent many hours at the Fort Har- mar Rifle Club (the outdoor range is now named in Charlie’s honor), went to gun shows together, and became fast friends. When Charlie passed away Ken got the 39.
Ken recently moved from Ohio to Idaho. Before he
moved, Ken passed Charlie’s 39A on to me one day at the range (you could have knocked me over with the proverbial feather) with the statement that the old gun deserved to be handed down through a family with boys in it (Ken has two girls). This great old rifle is to, eventually, reside with my son Brock. It is a wonderful and classic old rifle. For iron sights this very special 39A has both a Lyman receiver sight and the standard fold down buckhorn rear on the barrel. The serrated front blade has a gold insert, is dovetailed into the barrel, and has no hood. Mounted on blocks atop Charlie’s 39 is an old Weaver K 2.5x one-inch scope with a plain cross hair reticle and, for toting it around in comfort, there is a well broken-in
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Other available products and features: • Integral muzzle brakes for 75-80% recoil reduction • Encore rimfire adapters • Bullberry built Weaver-style scope bases • Guaranteed trigger adjustments set at your pull choice • Variety of scope mounts, scopes and iron sights • Dies – including those custom-made by Redding for Bullberry original calibers
www.bullberry.com
2430 West 350 North, Hurricane, UT 84737 435.635.9866 Fax: 435.635.0348
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