MacTech
Member
I just got back from a short shooting session at the SBRGA, this time it was mainly a function test of my new Marlin 60 .22
Weather; 25 degrees F, light gusts of wind, maybe around 10 MPH, brief, intermittent, clear skies and sunny, cold and crisp
Firearms;
Marlin Model 60 19" barrel
H&R 949 9-shot .22 revolver
Ruger Mark II Target 5.5" bull barrel
Shooting distance; 25 yards for sight in of the Marlin, and just to see how the handguns did at 25 yards
Ammunition used;
Remington Target standard velocity
, CCI CB Long
The first gun I used was the Marlin, with the Rem Target (I wanted to use up that garbage before breaking out my *good* ammo) and CCI CB Longs, I started out with the CB Longs, loaded up 5 for a function test...
*click* *THWACK!* the CB Long hit the target, a bit low, as expected, but what amazed me is how *quiet* the 60 was with these rounds, it was just as quiet as my old NEF single-shot, which was a break barrel single shot, the Marlin has an open bolt, which theoretically would allow more sound out of the chamber than the solid breech NEF, as expected, I did have to manually cycle the bolt after each shot, but that's no big deal, the combination of 60 and CB Longs seems to be a great, whisper-quiet combo
I then loaded up the Rem Target crap ammo, and ran some rounds downrange, the 60 was even quiet with these rounds, plus, it emitted a pleasing, Garand-esque "PING!" when the LSHO held the bolt back on the last shot, this 60 sounds like a Baby Garand
Accuracy-wise, nothing to write home about, I was using iron sights and my hands were cold, plus, the remington "target" ammo has sucky accuracy anyway, even with those limitations, I was able to shoot a couple nickel-sized groups, once the weather warms up and I use better ammo, I'm sure the 60 and I can do better
the 60 had 100% reliability, no FTF or FTE, however, the remington ammo had 4 partial duds (which worked when fired in my H&R 949) and one true dud that failed when tried in all three .22's
Next gun, my H&R 949 9-shot .22 revolver....
This little revolver still amazes me, at 25 yards, with cold hands, and using crappy ammo, this pistol turned in quite respectable groups, quarter-sized, even with the limitations of a shooter not going for accuracy and sucky ammo, this little NEF is a great little revolver, a true sleeper, best "cheap" gun I've owned yet, it's a keeper for sure, it may not have the cachet or polish of a S&W 617 10-shot .22 revolver, but it puts lead downrange right where I want it, it's the epitome of form-following-function, it's good and accurate, it doesn't *have* to look "nice", I'll take an ugly-but-accurate gun over a "pretty" gun designed to impress other shooters any day
the H&R had 100% reliability, even firing off some partial dud remingtons I shot in the Marlin
Final gun, my Ruger Mark II Target 5.5" bull...
Today was not a good day for the little Mark II, the H&R 949 out-shot it in accuracy, and was far more reliable, the Mark II had at least 7 light firing pin strikes out of the 35 cartridges I loaded for it, in fact, the last mag it was light striking every other round, I got so fed up with it that I unloaded the remaining two mags I had left and shot the cartridges in my H&R 949 and Marlin 60
the Ruger had 50% reliability today, that's unacceptable, especially when I got two or three light strikes in a row, and I could take those cartridges and shoot them just fine in the Marlin and the H&R
I'm torn as to what to do about the Ruger, it started light-striking on the last range trip two weeks ago, that evening, I performed a teardown and cleaning of the bolt, and I even removed the hammer to check for bad spots on the hammer/sear bearing surfaces and cleaned it up, I still need to clean the firing pin channel, as it was purchased used with at least 20 years of crud built up in it, the day I bought it, I gave the reciever, breech and grip a good solid cleaning, but I never got around to cleaning the firing pin channel....
Today, I was actually tempted to go to my local gunshop and trade the Mark II for store credit and get another Mark II to replace it (Stainless bull would be nice....), but that'd be overreacting on my case, I think I'll send it in to Ruger and have them give it a once over, find out how good their lifetime warranty is, it's a good thing that I have another .22 handgun to use while the Mark II is out being repaired, as they always say, two is one, one is none
so, overall, I had fun at the range, aside from the Mark II aggrivations, that is....
Weather; 25 degrees F, light gusts of wind, maybe around 10 MPH, brief, intermittent, clear skies and sunny, cold and crisp
Firearms;
Marlin Model 60 19" barrel
H&R 949 9-shot .22 revolver
Ruger Mark II Target 5.5" bull barrel
Shooting distance; 25 yards for sight in of the Marlin, and just to see how the handguns did at 25 yards
Ammunition used;
Remington Target standard velocity
, CCI CB LongThe first gun I used was the Marlin, with the Rem Target (I wanted to use up that garbage before breaking out my *good* ammo) and CCI CB Longs, I started out with the CB Longs, loaded up 5 for a function test...
*click* *THWACK!* the CB Long hit the target, a bit low, as expected, but what amazed me is how *quiet* the 60 was with these rounds, it was just as quiet as my old NEF single-shot, which was a break barrel single shot, the Marlin has an open bolt, which theoretically would allow more sound out of the chamber than the solid breech NEF, as expected, I did have to manually cycle the bolt after each shot, but that's no big deal, the combination of 60 and CB Longs seems to be a great, whisper-quiet combo
I then loaded up the Rem Target crap ammo, and ran some rounds downrange, the 60 was even quiet with these rounds, plus, it emitted a pleasing, Garand-esque "PING!" when the LSHO held the bolt back on the last shot, this 60 sounds like a Baby Garand
Accuracy-wise, nothing to write home about, I was using iron sights and my hands were cold, plus, the remington "target" ammo has sucky accuracy anyway, even with those limitations, I was able to shoot a couple nickel-sized groups, once the weather warms up and I use better ammo, I'm sure the 60 and I can do better
the 60 had 100% reliability, no FTF or FTE, however, the remington ammo had 4 partial duds (which worked when fired in my H&R 949) and one true dud that failed when tried in all three .22's
Next gun, my H&R 949 9-shot .22 revolver....
This little revolver still amazes me, at 25 yards, with cold hands, and using crappy ammo, this pistol turned in quite respectable groups, quarter-sized, even with the limitations of a shooter not going for accuracy and sucky ammo, this little NEF is a great little revolver, a true sleeper, best "cheap" gun I've owned yet, it's a keeper for sure, it may not have the cachet or polish of a S&W 617 10-shot .22 revolver, but it puts lead downrange right where I want it, it's the epitome of form-following-function, it's good and accurate, it doesn't *have* to look "nice", I'll take an ugly-but-accurate gun over a "pretty" gun designed to impress other shooters any day
the H&R had 100% reliability, even firing off some partial dud remingtons I shot in the Marlin
Final gun, my Ruger Mark II Target 5.5" bull...
Today was not a good day for the little Mark II, the H&R 949 out-shot it in accuracy, and was far more reliable, the Mark II had at least 7 light firing pin strikes out of the 35 cartridges I loaded for it, in fact, the last mag it was light striking every other round, I got so fed up with it that I unloaded the remaining two mags I had left and shot the cartridges in my H&R 949 and Marlin 60
the Ruger had 50% reliability today, that's unacceptable, especially when I got two or three light strikes in a row, and I could take those cartridges and shoot them just fine in the Marlin and the H&R
I'm torn as to what to do about the Ruger, it started light-striking on the last range trip two weeks ago, that evening, I performed a teardown and cleaning of the bolt, and I even removed the hammer to check for bad spots on the hammer/sear bearing surfaces and cleaned it up, I still need to clean the firing pin channel, as it was purchased used with at least 20 years of crud built up in it, the day I bought it, I gave the reciever, breech and grip a good solid cleaning, but I never got around to cleaning the firing pin channel....
Today, I was actually tempted to go to my local gunshop and trade the Mark II for store credit and get another Mark II to replace it (Stainless bull would be nice....), but that'd be overreacting on my case, I think I'll send it in to Ruger and have them give it a once over, find out how good their lifetime warranty is, it's a good thing that I have another .22 handgun to use while the Mark II is out being repaired, as they always say, two is one, one is none
so, overall, I had fun at the range, aside from the Mark II aggrivations, that is....
