I Have A 'Marlin 982 VS'
Hello and Welcome to The High Road.
Last March I bought a Marlin 983T, a tube fed, bolt, .22 mag. from Walmart. Walmart in Morris IL. doesn't allow you to open the box and view your new gun in the store. When I got home I found the muzzel and the round bolt handle was beat up perdy good. Then in less than 75 rounds it quit extracting, ejecting and shooting. I called Marlin and they said send it back to them for repairs. I told them I wasn't interested in a brand new rifle that needed so many repairs so I upgraded to a 982VS, (see pic). They assured me the 982VS would be checked out by their techs b 4 shipment. I am new to shooting and don't know much about guns or shooting, in fact this Marlin was the first gun I was able to examine close up since I was 12 years old.
Before opting for the 982VS I too had the same question regaurding the trigger guard. From available pictures it appears the wood stocked guns use the trigger gaurd screw as a stock retaining screw but it does not. The wood stock guns use a metal trigger guard and the screw holds just that metal guard in position. I chose the Marlin over the Savage bcuz the Marlin barrel is 1 inch longer than the Savage. Since then I've been able to closely examine a Savage 22WMR and their bolt appears to be better made.
Since I got the 982vs last April I've put about 3500 rounds thru it without a single issue. Mine seems to like CCI 2200fps MaxiMag+V ammo and the 1980fps MaxiMag 40 gr. ammo the best. Last summer
www.sportsmansguide.com had .22 WMR MaxiMag+V for under $70 for 1000 rounds. I've shot most .22 magnum rounds available except Winchester 33gr. and Armscore Presicion .22mag. which is made in the Philipines.
I've also modified the bullets by making the hollow bigger and inserting steel penetrators and by making the 30 gr. bullet even lighter I have a pic of them if interested.
Let me know if you get a 22magnum.
Angelo
