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…was the Marlin 989 you see here. It didn’t look like this when I first shot it, some 35 years ago. The camo treatment is part of a restoration effort that one of my sons is undertaking on this gun. But this is the gun.
I remember the day vividly.
The setting was the back yard of some family property in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The target was a metal coffee can set about 10 yards away. The ammo was Winchester Super Speed .22LR (I still have some of it). And the nine year old boy who would eventually put a few magazines’ worth through the Marlin could hardly bear the brief safety lecture given by his father.
At last I was allowed to assume a prone position, take aim, and fire. Oh, the joy of the gentle click of the trigger, the crack of gunfire, the cases ejecting, the smell of gunsmoke. The coffee can shook just a little as each round pierced it.
At 10 yards with a rifle, I was a crack shot. Couldn’t miss. Couldn’t load an empty magazine fast enough. Couldn’t get a loaded magazine seated fast enough. But then … crack, crack, crack. Unbelievably satisfying. I was hooked.
Fast forward to a couple years ago when I found the Marlin at my parents’ house. It had a bit of rust — especially on one magazine — and dust. My teenage son spotted it and asked about restoring it and maybe painting it.
We completely disassembled it, cleaned it, lubed it, and reassembled it. Before putting the fire control system and barrel back in, we repainted it. Not because it needed it, but because we wanted to.
We tried a couple camouflage patterns and eventually landed on this “woodland” scheme made by painting all the wood black and then laying some grass and leaves on it and then spray painting some tan over it.
Up close, it’s not the cleanest pattern. But far away, in the woods or brush, it’s as good as anything — at a cost of two cans of spray paint.
There are a few more things to do but we’re happy with how it looks thus far. And it’s my son’s first firearm restoration project. I don’t think it will be his last.
Had to clean off a bit of rust from this magazine. Still works but we’re going to buy some new ones.
Let’s hear from you. Tell us in the comments below about the first gun you fired or the first gun you attempted to restore.
— Mark Kakkuri
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