Marlin 39 ?

[TX50Cal]

Local gunshop has a Marlin 39 serial # O 123XX with a * on the top tang. Can someone tell me what this star means. I heard something about it before but can't for the life of me remember what it meant.
Thanks for the info.
Dave in TX

[Hillbilly]

if its old enough I think the star indicated that the rifle showed superior accuracy when tested at the factory.... I dont know if it's true or not, but I remember reading that someplace

[1886]

It is an inspectors mark. Around 1925 Marlin started putting that star on the tang. It simply means the gun passed the quality control of that period. The gun is no different than any other Marlin built and shipped in that time period. One will hear lots of stories about how a "star" gun is superior to other Marlins of that period but this is simply not true. This is straight from Vall. I had a similar question myself at one time. Regards, 1886.

[jdad]

Yep, pure marketing. Started in 1926. I actually had a 39A, from 1940, that had the star inside the receiver.

More than likely that "O" is actually a poorly struck "S".

[marlinman93]

The way this "superior quality" thing got started was people reading the advertisements of the day back then. Marlin ads hyped the "star" when this was first introduced. According to the 1926 ads, when a gun left the factory it was "as near perfection as the finest of materials, equipment, and skill can make it."
Many people have turned this around to mean that only the finest of these guns during this time got a "star" stamp, but the late Bill Brophy (Marlin Historian) told me this just wasn't so. All guns leaving the factory during this time period got the star mark as a final inspector's stamp.-Vall

[otteray]

This was one of the last fairy tales that I still had faith in.
First the tooth fairy, then Santa; now this devastating blow, hitting me hard at 58 years of age.
It's just not fair.
Regardless; I still love my old S-prefix Model 39.
Action is smooth as glass and at 100 yards will hit a gnat's... uh, fanny.

[1886]

This was one of the last fairy tales that I still had faith in.
First the tooth fairy, then Santa; now this devastating blow, hitting me hard at 58 years of age.
It's just not fair.
Regardless; I still love my old S-prefix Model 39.
Action is smooth as glass and at 100 yards will hit a gnat's... uh, fanny.

That is all that counts. Right? 1886.

[marlinman93]

The star stamp was used clear up until the model 39a came out! At least I've never seen a 39a with the star stamp, but i have a HS prefix model 39 made in 1938 that also has the star stamp.

[jdad]

VAll,
I had that "B" prefix 39A that had the star, on the inside of the receiver.

[marlinman93]

Not sure what that star inside the receiver would mean? If the earlier star was an inspector's mark, then I'm not sure why someone at Marlin decided to stamp a star in a hidden spot. Maybe they were using the star for the same reason, but were told to no longer stamp it plainly on the tang?