Big surprise from a Marlin .22LR

B

BumbleBug

New member
I went to the range yesterday with my shooting buddy Joe. Joe is always buying a new gun so it was interesting to see what his latest goodie was.

It was a Martlin Model XT-22VR bolt action .22 LR. To me it was no big deal, in that between us we have 6 or 8 .22's. This just looked like another crummy plastic stocked .22 of little interest to me, but at about 7lbs it did feel like a "real" rifle. It had one of those new weirdo triggers like Savages & Glocks have, but it felt really good! He explained that he had bought it new at the sporting goods store for $215 out the door. It came with Weaver bases attached so he bought some cheapo rings for $10 bucks also. He mounted a Simmons 4x-18x scope on it.

He brought along blue box of 100 CCI Target .22lr's (he's got all kinds of ammo squirreled away). He asked if I would help him zero it. So we put up a target at 25 yards & shot one round. Holding the gun down tight, I moved the crosshairs over the bullet hole & it was done. Now we started shooting a few groups. I suddenly got a little more interested. Bullets keep doubling themselves on the paper so we moved the target out to 50. Same thing! Eventually we were shooting at 100 yard (I had to adjust the elevation up 6".) There was a slight variable wind, but a fun challenge to shoot during the lulls. At 100yds, wind is always a problem for the .22LR with drifting all the way off the target not uncommon. But that little plastic gun shot sub 1" groups with monotony! Yes, I was doing it & so was Joe. I'm talking 5 shot groups too!

I'm not a big Marlin fan & I don't know if this is odd-ball among the lot, but anyone looking for a .22 that's a real shooter, this one is worth checking out! A better scope, more ammo experimenting & a better marksman could probably cut that in half!

Gawd, I wonder if someone makes a wood stock for that ugly thing! Yes, I'm an old guy forced to learn new tricks!

...bug ;)
 
No need to be surprised at the lowly Marlins, especially the .22s.
Their auto loader model 60 has had a long reputation for reliability and accuracy.
When I was a regular at our local .22 silhouette matches with mine, a typical range practice day with it included clay birds at 100 yards.
It not only was capable of hitting them, but chewing them up into tiny pieces.
There's nothing at all limiting about a Marlin rimfire.
 
Mr. Willikers is correct. I have an old marlin 782 and it is a great shooter.

As for a wood stock, Boyd's makes them for the marlin XT series, inletted for either a factory standard or factory bull barrel. If you don't like the laminates, Boyds' also offers the rimfire hunter in solid walnut.
 
Marlins will shoot, for the most part - both rimfire and centerfire.... Well not sure about Remlins - never had one - but MARlins will. Good to hear that this Remlin works well.
 
Bought a Marlin xt22 about 8 months ago and replaced its plastic stock with one I made....put a Simmons 6-18x40 scope on it. With decent ammo, its definitely on the accurate side. Had it at range yesterday shooting at 3/4" dots on my 50 yd target. Kinda windy and I used maybe 5 different kinds of 22 ammo, of which, only one was decently accurate ammo in any of my 22 rifles. With it, I could hit the 3/4" dot, 4 out of 5 shots and the one that missed was just outside the dot. With the other ammo, might have hit the dots one or two shots out of five.
 
The XT-22 is very comparable to the Savage MKII, in price and performance.

I was recently shopping for a good benchrest .22, I considered the Marlin and Savage, but ended up going with the CZ 455 Varmint. My decision was based more on the fit & finish and "big rifle" feel of the CZ. The CZ's can "potentially" be more accurate, but that's not always the case. For half the price of the CZ, the XT-22 is alot of rifle for the money.
 
I bought a Marlin XT-17 recently. Well more like a year ago probably, I have only shot 20 rounds thru it. And that was only to get feel for trigger and it's adjustments. I am looking forward to sighting it in and really shooting some groups. Hopefully this .17 will perform like your .22 does!
 
I have an older version of their XT-17, the 917v. Walked out the door with it for a similar price. Was used, and I think the previous owner must of not known what they had. The trigger was a bit stiff when I got it, but it was easily made less stiff. At 75 yards I tack up playing cards and punch the symbols out of them, at this range if I do my part on a calm day I can do this consistently.

I don't know how I feel about the remlins as I don't own one. Happy to hear that your XT-22 is a shooter. If I saw a Marlin 25M at the shop I would want it.
 
My older 25n is capable of excellent accuracy with CCI SV, and I used to shoot in the nineties on a ten-bull benchrest target at fifty yards. My pre-Remington 795 is almost as accurate and it sits in a Boyd's thumbhole stock. I have had nothing but fantastic accuracy and durability in the years of owning Marlin rimfires.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top