Marlin XT-22 with tube magazine is not accurate

[Picher]

Recently, I've not been happy with rifles sent for repair to several gunmakers or their agents, especially those companies that I'd received excellent results from in the past.

One firm, in the past year, told me that the rifle I sent in to a contract "repair center" had excess headspace and was a dangerous rifle. I took it to a trusted gunsmith and he found it safe and had exactly the same headspace as a brand new one I'd recently bought! However, they failed to fix a problem with the bolt that caused primer cratering with normal loads. I believe the problem was due to weak firing pin impact.

A friend's new rifle from an unnamed company had a very rough bore that made a zinging noise when cleaning with a bronze brush. It was very difficult to clean as the result. It was found "normal" and returned to the owner. DUH!

 

[OzeanJaeger]

You, or a gunsmith may want to try lapping the barrel. I'm not a huge fan of lapping, but I have done it sparingly in some instances with good results. I tend to be a less is more person when discussing lapping, and would recommend more of a polish like J&B over one of the real ones that have grit and take off a lot of metal.

I bought a used M-77 in .220 Swift, off the internet, that wouldn't shoot straight. When I bore-scoped the barrel I was horrified. I don't think the previous owner had EVER cleaned it, and nothing I did would get it clean. Not the same thing as chatter, but essentially the same results. I long stroked it with the blue J&B till it ran black, and it made a huge difference. There was some pitting under the crud that is now there permanently. The crown was fine too, but after a new 11deg target crown and lapping it lightly it is now holding decent groups and has killed many a prairie dog to date.

I think messing with .22s is hard because you can't make ammo for them. You pretty much have to have a great rifle, you have to luck into it being tuned for a certain ammo, or you just don't. There's not much you can do. I bought one of those Ruger Tactical 10/22 takedowns, and was really disappointed in the accuracy, but that's kind of what you get with a take down. The only ammo that will hold under an inch @ 50yds is the Gemtech sub sonic. High velocity opens it up quite a bit. I was disappointed, but I guess I shouldn't have been.

The quality of .22 ammo vis a vis centerfire cartridges just isn't there. I get that std. dev. and extreme spreads on velocity don't matter as much on short range round, but I just can't get over the fact at how much worse they are than even a box of cheap centerfire cartridges.

http://www.tulprpc.org/attachments/File/22LRAmmoTests.pdf

When I can't get one to run right I always go to those Gemtechs. They seem, to me, to work in more platforms than anything else. A lot of that may be that they're very consistent. When I shoot cheap (Like Golden Bullet) with a can on it you can hear the inconsistency... Thud, thud, CRACK, thud, CRACK, thud, thud.

 

[TruthTellers]

Update: I spoke with customer service to find out what was done as there was no note in the box saying what was tried, if anything. Apparently the bore was lapped and I don't doubt it because the chatter marks in the bore do look like they've been worn down as they don't look as "sharp" as they were before I sent it.

So, I'll try shooting it this weekend if it warms up. It's freezing outside right now.

OzeanJaeger, I agree with all you said about .22's and their accuracy and ammo limitations. When I bought this rifle in 2014, reloading was the last thing on my mind... now it's first and foremost in my mind when I buy guns. Given the ammo shortage that occurred at that time, if I find one or a few different .22 ammo that works best in a gun, but can't find it due to another shortage, then it really it doesn't matter what .22 I have, I won't have access to the best ammo for it.

It's one of the main reasons I've decided to replace .22 rimfires with .32 centerfire. Just as much power and even more if you have .327 and just as accurate, if not much better.