Range Report: Marlin 980S-CF or: How my .22 went from zero to tackdriver in 5 minutes

[General Geoff]

So yeah, it finally arrived and I must say, I am impressed. After putting a few rounds through it with the iron sights (which were adequate), I hastily installed a Simmons 22 Mag scope on it that I swiped from my Walther G22. Thus are the results:





This is a 10 shot group (notice two oblong holes, those were two shots apiece), done after zeroing the rifle with just a bipod, no bench rest. Squares on the paper are 1 inch. I can say without confidence, this rifle is far more accurate than I am; I'm positive that with a rock solid bench rest or more practice, I can get that group down to 1.5 inches or less.

Range for the group was 100 yards, ammo used was CCI Mini Mag round nose.


I like this rifle a lot already, and I've only put 100 rounds through it!


This weekend I'm going to try to get to a 150 or 200 yard range and see just how far I can push this thing.

 

[Nhsport]

Nice shooting!
I am not familiar with that marlin,is it a semi or a bolt?
If a bolt try standard velocity target type ammo,this will most often shrink groups over mini mags. The mini mags have decent power and they are the gold standard for reliability and semi auto happiness but they generally don't hold up accuracy against the target ammo.
Doesn't have to be crazy high dollar ammo , start with CCI standard velocity or Wolf MT.
Rimfire at 100 yards can be fun but watch the wind!

 

[General Geoff]

This is a bolt gun.

I'll try a few different kinds of ammo, and I'll try the CCI standard velocity next. But if the Mini Mags aren't even known for their accuracy, then that means I've got one more avenue to tighten up that group.