Talk to me about tube-fed versus mag fed bolt action 22 rifles.

A

aarondhgraham

New member
Talk to me about tube-fed versus mag fed bolt action 22 rifles.

Here's the skinny.

A kid I work with has been to the range with me several times,,,
He really likes plinking with a bolt-action .22 rifle,,,
I'm thinking of buying one for his grad present.

I was looking at the Savage Mk-II,,,
The Mossberg 802 Plinkster,,,
And the Marlin XT-22.

Then I noticed the XT-22TR which is tube-fed,,,
I've never owned a tube-fed rifle in my life.

Are these as reliable in their feed as a mag-fed rifle?

I like the idea of not having to deal with mags,,,
I especially like not having to spend money on them.

Are there any quirks I should be aware of?

Help me out here gentlemen,,,
I-B-Clueless on this matter.

Aarond

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I've owned a few Marlin 60's over the years including my very first rifle that was given to me almost 50 years ago. In my experience they are just as reliable, but not as durable. the difference is that the magazine is the weakest link on any 22. They are eventually going to wear out if used a lot. The magazine on my 50 y/o Marlin never gave a minutes problem until it wore out.

I suppose I could, and probably should, get it repaired. But I've moved on to magazine fed 22's. Those magazines eventually wear out too, but you can easily toss them in the trash and buy replacements much cheaper than repairing/replacing a tube magazine. Since most people own multiple magazines their use is rotated and each magazine doesn't get the same use as a gun with only 1 tube magazine.
 
At our outdoor range: When a ceasefire is called...all non-fixed magazines must be removed from the rifle --- Which means you'll have to go through the trouble of removing the tubular magazine rod, while dumping out any live rounds still in the magazine --- compared to a box or rotary magazine.

In my Marlin 22 lever action: I've had the top holding pin for the tubular rod work-out an fall on the ground --- till I found it --- and Loc-Tighted back-in.

In a centerfire rifle: Care must be taken to use the correct ammunition in order to avoid a tubular magazine explosion.
 
They usually work quite well and should be cleaned once in a while. The only problem I've seen is sometimes a shell could get stuck and not be noticed. This usually occurs on the last round. When checking the gun to insure it really is empty, the plug that pushed the cartridges forward on modern .22's are usually bright orange or in some cases yellow. Open the bolt and see that bright color and the magazine is empty. with the magazine type, just drop the magazine and check the chamber. Never had it happen to me but I know of several instances where a gun was check and then dry fired to release tension on there spring and got a bang. Happened to one of my head instructors in the Hunter Ed class. He was at home and has a nice hole in the ceiling. My current .22 is a Remington that take a magazine and it's PITA to have to refill it every 5 shot when the ground squirrels are out and as thick as thieves.
Paul B.
 
Flush magazine.

For me world of difference over protruding mags; especially on a .22lr rifle, not taking into consideration .223 semi-auto flavors. I like being able to use the balancing point when carrying a rifle.

Ruger American Rimfire uses 10/22 mags. Nice and flush and interchangeable. Not to pricey either.

For a bolt gun, the RAR so far has been pretty darned accurate and I have been happy with mine. Also being a 10/22 shooter, just having the one type of mag in my range bag makes it nice and simple.

I have never been a fan of tubular mags on .22s. It is a pain, one more thing that can go wrong, having to verify that the tube is truly empty. And I have, past tense, owned them.

Happy Hunting for the perfect .22lr rifle!
 
I've never had a problem with them in my marlin 22 mag.

My range doesn't require them to be dumped out either. Just stick a chamber flag in and you're good. For the price of extra magazines i'm sure you can replace a tube if it ever gets broken from overuse. They even make some pretty neat dispensers to feed them on the fly.

22riflespeedloaderJPG.jpg
 
make mine a tube

I prefer a tube feed to a box magazine most of the time, they hold more rounds and seem to be more reliable, the bottom of the rifle is smooth with no protruding mag so it caries better. With a speede loader its quick to reload. the down side is unloading if your crossing fences or getting in and out of the car or truck the tube doesn't unload then reload as well as just pulling out a clip
 
Blindstitch -- Hey, I've got a couple of those "speedloaders" for my Marlin 60. They work great.

I've also seen people use hollow aluminum arrows for that purpose.

I've never had any reliability problems with the Model 60. I get around the problem at the range of having to empty out the tube when a ceasefire is called by only shooting 1 magazine and then locking the action open (it'll be locked open already), setting it aside in the rack until after the ceasefire is called, and the range goes hot again. No big deal, it makes me slow down and that's a good thing.

Buzzardbait -- Yeah, unloading a loaded tube mag rifle out in the field is a PITA. For that matter, it is a PITA for a shotgun as well. Or with a tube fed centerfire, both of which you have to cycle the action to clear the rounds out of the magazine. At least, with a "muzzle end loader" .22, you can remove the spring loaded follower and then almost all of the rounds will fall out the muzzle end. But even then, you have to replace the follower and cycle out the one that is in the chamber and the one that is engaged to be loaded next. The biggest PITA is that once you are past your obstacle you have to manually feed them back in. Sigh. The more rounds you put in it, the more rounds you have to take out of it and then put back in it*. Nothing says you have to completely load the magazine, ya' know. Oh, well, at least you aren't dealing with trying to deal with box magazine feeding issues. .22lr, being a rimmed round, can be problematic for box mags, ya' know. All it takes is a rim lock to jam up the works. I think I'll just stay with the tube feeders when shooting rimfires. They work.

*I find that if I'm tree rat or bunny hunting, I really don't need any more than about 5 rounds in the rifle anyway. So that's all I put in it at at any 1 time unless I know that I'm not crossing any fences. I might have a box of 50 or 100 rounds on my person, but I don't feel obligated to completely fill the magazine, simply because it is a PITA to unload all those rounds and then load all those rounds every time I cross a fence. The rifle has a scope on it. I'm only going to use 1 round anyway.
 
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That debate has been going on for a long time.
The tube holds more, the clip reloads by quick exchange of loaded magazines.
The clip can get dropped and lost, the tube can get bent.

The key difference I see in the past 50 years since the demise of all the milled steel .22s except the Marlin 39A has been the wear of stamped lifters and guides in "popular priced" tube loaders. They can last a long time but when they quit, they are done for and hard to fix.
 
I haven't shot much .22 lately, but growing up we had several mag fed .22s including a 10/22 and several bolt actions. My only issue with any was occasionally I would need to look to find the mags since we did not typically store them in the rifle.

We also had one Remington tube fed .22 pump. We shot in the back yard, so we did not typically have a need to dump a tube, but it also fed reliably. On a separate subject, I would love to find out what that Remington was. I believe it had a line aluminum barrel and was very light weight maybe a 572 Fieldmaster lightweight model. The barrel looked like it was anodized in kind of a bronze color if I remember correctly. I may have to check with my friend that my dad sold it to. I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have sold it.
 
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The key difference I see in the past 50 years since the demise of all the milled steel .22s except the Marlin 39A has been the wear of stamped lifters and guides in "popular priced" tube loaders. They can last a long time but when they quit, they are done for and hard to fix.
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True enough. I really didn't know how "crude" the internals of my Marlin 60 was until I stripped it for a comprehensive cleaning. Stamped parts. Oh, well, it works well enough for now, and if it works reliably for another 30 years I'll be more than happy (since I'm almost 60 and I have no kids to hand it down to). And it is "just a .22", it keeps the cost down on what is just a "consumer grade" rifle. It is plenty accurate enough, it is plenty reliable enough.

FWIW, it isn't like .22lr box magazines are completely trouble free. For instance, the main spring of one of the 10 round mags for my wife's S&W 422 (the original mag) has weakened to the point to where, while it still feeds reliably, it won't lock the action open when the mag is empty. Good thing it isn't the only mag she has. As far as I can tell, you can't change those springs out, BTW. Eh, it is easier to just by a new mag, good thing it takes the same mags as their flagship Model 41.
 
I hadn't thought about the cold range scenario.

I hadn't thought about the cold range scenario,,,
It would be a pain to have to dump the tube every time.

Several of you mentioned dumping the magazine when crossing a fence,,,
I was never taught to do that by my father or grandfather.

They taught me to put the safety on and lean it against a post,,,
Then cross the fence and pick up the rifle.

Thanks for your comments and thoughts my friends,,,
I'm still undecided as to which to buy for him.

It might come down to a coin toss. :o

Aarond

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My dad showed me how to shoot with his youth rifle, a tube-fed .22. It was a Remington 550 or 556 or something. Seemed a bit finicky but it was probably 50 years old and the spring was starting to go.
I think I've seen replacement springs for tube-fed magazines in Wolff's or Numrich's or somewhere.
 
From a Winchester 1906 made in 1912, to a freckled old JC Higgins Model 36 (High-Standard), I have never had a hiccough with a tubular mag rimfire...

The 1906 will load and fire S/L/LR, or any combination of them...

I have no idea if 'new' models/designs work as well...
 
Tubes are always good to go !!!

Are these as reliable in their feed as a mag-fed rifle?
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Marlin as well as others, have been at this for a long time and not too many bugs left. Personally, I have had more feed problems from magazines than tubes. From a hunting perspective. I have had mags come loose and even lost one. I "always" have a round available, on a tube feed as during a hunting break, under a tree, I make up shortages, in the tube. You might have a feed problem when the tube gets dirty but this can be eliminated by routing light cleaning. When you lower the tube on a loaded rifle, you will feel any possible feed problems. Given all that and strictly personal, I prefer the profile look of a Mag fed rifle. ... :)

Be Safe !!!
 
Never a fan of the exposed tube

I fear knocking or dinging it and ending up with an unservicable gun. That said, my brother has had his Glenfield for nearly 40 years and never damaged the tube.
 
Don't forget if you get mini or cb shells that you can double your capacity for free unlike a removable magazine.

Besides if you screw up a tube magazine you can buy new ones and replace them for like $21. That's the brownells price at the moment.
 
I've used tube fed 22s almost exclusively since the 1970's when my first rifle, a Remington 581 magazine went wonky. I've had an Ithaca Model 72 saddlegun since 1974 with a tube feed and it's still running hot and fine to this day. My experience with magazine-fed 22's is that it's always the magazines that go snaky, especially the feed lips. Magazine tubes can easily be bent back out with a wooden dowel mandrel. I'm a firm believer in tube-fed 22's.
 
While hunting the outdoors here in Maryland...it is illegal to lean a firearm up against anything --- like a car or a "fencepost."
 
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