death from afar,
I posted this a long time ago. I was responding to a question about the 39 jamming. I can't really tell from the other posts if this seems to be your problem or not, but I hope this can be of some help to you.
Take care,
Lever problem
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I have a Marlin Model 39A .22 cal lever action rifle. I have put a thousand or so rounds through it. I was shooting one day and ejected the case and proceeded to chamber another round. The lever stuck open and wouldn't move. Fortunately for me the model 39 has a large screw type device on the side of the receiver. When you unscrew it you can seperate the barrel and forend from the lever, hammer, and stock assembly (rear portion of the rifle). That exposes the workings of the lever assembly etc. I found the cause of my problem was a small flat part with a pin protruding. The pin stuck out an eighth of an inch or so and was spring loaded (at the time I knew the name and function of the part, but it's been awhile). What had happened to my part was that the hole had worn a little and the extra play would not let the spring loaded pin push in. The internal part of the lever passes by this spring loaded pin and it is supposed to go in when brushed past by the lever. I could wiggle the pin a little and get it to go in, but it would take some wiggling to get it to work. I dug up my owners manuel and identified the part and contacted Marlin. I gave them the serial number of my rifle and the approximate year it was purchased. I found out there were several variations of this part and they, to my surprise, could not determine exactly which one I needed. They sent me the part and of course it didn't fit. I then took my worn part and put it on a copying machine. I made a photo copy of my part and mailed it or faxed it. I can't remember. Anyway the correct part came and no further problems have occured. Sounds like the same sort of thing to me.
