Marlin .22rf bolt rifle questions

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clutch

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My nephew is turning 11 soon, I want to buy him a rifle. His dad, my brother, is cool with the idea. Eli, my nephew has been shooting grandpa's old .22 semi with my brother and likes shooting.

I bought a Marlin 25 .22lr at k-mart years ago and it has been a fine rifle with the proper ammo for the price point. I'd have loved to buy another one but it isn't made now.

So I'm thinking about the Marlin XT22 22 BA 7 HWD which looks a lot like it and has a wood stock. I'm not into plastic.

Buds has it here
http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/323/products_id/72774

I'm mostly interested in informed opinions on the XT22 from people that own one, if you have had a model 25 before that is even better.

Thanks,

Clutch
 
I've got the Marlin 925RM and I love it, despite it's plastic stock (which I just tigerized with a gawd awful paint job :D). But if you still crave the older wooden bolt guns (like I do) then one of thd 3 big auction sites may be your friend......
 
$182.00 shipped from Buds, $52.00 for all of the Kali crap, $31.50 for the Barska Huntmaster 3x9-40 and 93 cents for the spray paint. Voila, you got an instant Surfari gun. Big fun in the sun.........:D




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I was hoping for info on the XT22 version instead of info on the 925. I know the 925 is a great gun, I own one. Buds has one .22rf variant of 925 available and that is in pink realtree. I don't think Eli would like that one.

I ordered the XT22 last night since I'm trying to get this rifle in time for his birthday. Looking at the manual, it looks like it is 925 with an accutrigger setup.

I googled the net about the xt22 and just about every thread where someone asks about it, a 925 response is given.

Thanks for trying,

Clutch
 
I was hoping for info on the XT22 version instead of info on the 925. I know the 925 is a great gun, I own one. Buds has one .22rf variant of 925 available and that is in pink realtree. I don't think Eli would like that one.

I ordered the XT22 last night since I'm trying to get this rifle in time for his birthday. Looking at the manual, it looks like it is 925 with an accutrigger setup.

I googled the net about the xt22 and just about every thread where someone asks about it, a 925 response is given.

Thanks for trying,

Clutch
Click to expand...

Try Raisan Bran next time, it'll lighten you up a bit......:D
 
El Mariachi said:
Try Raisan Bran next time, it'll lighten you up a bit......:D
Click to expand...

I'm a maple and brown sugar oatmeal guy myself. I'm not knocking Raisin Bran but if I buy that stuff, I'm likely going to eat the whole box in one sitting. :D

My FFL guy tells me Eli's rifle was delivered today. I'll pick it up tomorrow after an Elias Big Boy Breakfast and then take it to the range to zero it for Eli.

Sunday, I have one nephew graduating high school heading off to a career in medicine and the 11 year old getting his first rifle on his birthday. Life is good.

Clutch
 
Amen, Clutch, life is very good.....



(btw, I'm actually a Grape Nuts guy. With raspberries. And half 'n half. And two teaspoons of sugar. Yum yummity goodness of the Nth degree....:D
 
Well, I picked up the rifle and it looks a lot like the 925 I have. The magazine is different but the stock is similar.

The first thing I noticed is the comb is too high as if it was never meant to be used with the iron sights. I didn't remember that about my rifle but the first thing I did was put a 4x scope on it. Eli will have to live with it for a while. I suspect a set of rings and a scope will be what I get Eli for Christmas. Not one of those teeny rim fire scopes either.

It shot okay for me using the irons, I'm not sure what ammo it likes yet, obviously it isn't a match rifle but it should keep Eli busy working on his marksmanship for a while. That funny trigger took something to get used to but after you get that thing out of the way, it has a pretty nice trigger for a 200 dollar gun.

Here are pictures of old and new.

MarlinRimFires1.jpg

You may not notice looking at the picture this but the safe and fire position is reversed between each rifle. That was a bit annoying.
On the XT22, safe is toward the butt plate, and on the 925, it is toward the muzzle.

MarlinRimFires2.jpg

MarlinRimFires3.jpg

Clutch
 
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I picked up one of these a week ago, first one I had seen. Gave it a thorough going over and brought it home for a little under $200 at Gander Mountain. I found the supplied iron sights to be about useless, if you're not going to scope it right away I would replace these and save your son some frustration.
When you do put a scope on you'll need the Weaver 12 bases, these fit perfectly. As you've probably already noticed, Marlin machined a flat on the top of the bolt handle. The reason for this is the bolt wont clear most adjustable scopes unless high rings are used. I still had to relieve my handle a little so I could get the scope mounted using medium rings, crude but functional...
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I found the stock to be very nicely inletted in the receiver area, but the barrel channel had some pressure points so I free floated it back to the front mounting lug. Speaking of that lug, it's dovetailed into the barrel and fell out when I detail cleaned it-no big deal but don't be surprised if yours does it.
I found the trigger to be very nice from the box, but had to play with the adjustment-I ended up setting it to the lightest possible setting. I'll be taking this apart today to see if I can make any improvements. I'll also see if I can fit some pillars to the stock to tighten up things a little.
My first outing got quarter sized groups at 50 yards with CCI MiniMags,this can be improved I'm sure as the barrel seasons and all my tweaking is finished.
All in all I like this rifle, robustly built and well finished at the price point.
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I'm sure your son will love it.
 
Fwiw, I did a lotta research on what ammo to use first on our two new Marlin .22 rifles----and the overall consensus seemed to point to CCI Mini and/or Maxi Mags. Supposedly these work very well to initially 'season' the barrels. So we ran at leastt 500 Mini's down the 795 before trying different ammo, and I've got about 400 rounds of Maxi's down the 925RM (and perhaps 50 Winchester somethings). They are both pretty damn accurate and have shown minimal fouling.....
 
I don't know squat about the Pictinny thing---except that the wife's MKIII 512 Ruger came with one. Haven't a clue how it works, what it does nor what to do with it, so there it sits, in it's own little vacuumed plastic biosphere of loneliness......:D
 
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