MacTech
Member
I went to my local range this afternoon to give my new Marlin 60 it's first function test (100% success 
), I also brought along my Ruger Mark II Target Bull-Barrel (5.5"), and my H&R 949 9-shot .22 6"
It was clear to me that I shot the H&R much better, it's standard profile barrel was turning in nickel-sized groups (25 deg. F air temps and a shooter with cold hands ), wheras the heavy-barreled Target model Ruger was turning in quarter-sized groups....
On top of that, the Mark II was having some light-strike problems (sometimes as bad as three in a row), each time I had a light-strike, I had to wait 30 seconds to a minute in case it was a hang-fire, then I had to cycle the bolt to load the next cartridge, sometimes the cartridge wouldn't clear the breech face, so I had to lock the bolt back and shake out the light-struck cartridge, , close the bolt, reacquire my point of aim, and shoot, each light strike slowed down my shooting rhythm
the H&R had no such problems, it ran 100% flawlessly, heck, i was even able to take the light-struck cartridges, put them in the H&R and it shot them on the first try, absolute, utter 100% reliability
This little experience really drove home the advantage of the revolver over the semiauto, when I had a stoppage in the Mark II, I had to perform the infamous "tap-rack-bang" to bring the firearm back into usable form, wheras if I had a failure to fire with a revolver, I'd have to simply pull the trigger again to bring up the next cartridge and fire , no "tap-rack-bang" needed
the *only* advantage the Mark II has over the 959 is one more round capacity (10 round vs. 9 round) and speed of reloading (assuming one has a spare loaded mag at the ready), actually, come to think of it, if we're dealing with two completely empty firearms (Mark II with an empty mag, 949 with an empty cylinder), the 949 actually has a *slight* loading speed advantage, as you only have one motion, load the rounds directly into the cylinder, close the gate, and start shooting, the Mark II requires loading the mag, sliding the mag into the gun, pull back the bolt to load, then fire....
two steps for the revolver (load cylinder, shoot), four steps for the semiauto (load mag, slide mag in pistol, operate bolt, shoot)
Hmm, maybe I should replace the Mark II with either a Single Six or S&W 617 10-shot, for a sporting/recreational/varminting/small game hunting firearm, a .22 revolver has no real drawbacks, the only advantage a semiauto .22 has is quick loaded mag changes
), I also brought along my Ruger Mark II Target Bull-Barrel (5.5"), and my H&R 949 9-shot .22 6"It was clear to me that I shot the H&R much better, it's standard profile barrel was turning in nickel-sized groups (25 deg. F air temps and a shooter with cold hands
), wheras the heavy-barreled Target model Ruger was turning in quarter-sized groups....On top of that, the Mark II was having some light-strike problems (sometimes as bad as three in a row), each time I had a light-strike, I had to wait 30 seconds to a minute in case it was a hang-fire, then I had to cycle the bolt to load the next cartridge, sometimes the cartridge wouldn't clear the breech face, so I had to lock the bolt back and shake out the light-struck cartridge, , close the bolt, reacquire my point of aim, and shoot, each light strike slowed down my shooting rhythm
the H&R had no such problems, it ran 100% flawlessly, heck, i was even able to take the light-struck cartridges, put them in the H&R and it shot them on the first try, absolute, utter 100% reliability
This little experience really drove home the advantage of the revolver over the semiauto, when I had a stoppage in the Mark II, I had to perform the infamous "tap-rack-bang" to bring the firearm back into usable form, wheras if I had a failure to fire with a revolver, I'd have to simply pull the trigger again to bring up the next cartridge and fire , no "tap-rack-bang" needed
the *only* advantage the Mark II has over the 959 is one more round capacity (10 round vs. 9 round) and speed of reloading (assuming one has a spare loaded mag at the ready), actually, come to think of it, if we're dealing with two completely empty firearms (Mark II with an empty mag, 949 with an empty cylinder), the 949 actually has a *slight* loading speed advantage, as you only have one motion, load the rounds directly into the cylinder, close the gate, and start shooting, the Mark II requires loading the mag, sliding the mag into the gun, pull back the bolt to load, then fire....
two steps for the revolver (load cylinder, shoot), four steps for the semiauto (load mag, slide mag in pistol, operate bolt, shoot)
Hmm, maybe I should replace the Mark II with either a Single Six or S&W 617 10-shot, for a sporting/recreational/varminting/small game hunting firearm, a .22 revolver has no real drawbacks, the only advantage a semiauto .22 has is quick loaded mag changes
