Marlin 880sq .22lr

[African Villager]

Greetings from Sunny South Africa (Cape Town)

Been scanning this forum for some time and find the info very interesting.

Participated in silhouette Shooting during the late 90's and then due to travels sold most of my firearms and looking at getting back into the game.

Much Cheaper shooting steel plates than hunting at the moment.

I currently own a Marlin 880sq .22lr (stock standard) and have nothing bad to say about this rifle except the trigger - any upgrade or modification advice will be sincerely appreciated.

on a benchrest I get 1inch groupings at 50m and 2-3inches at 100m ( S&B / Remington std velocity/ CCI Subsonic) have not tried fancy ammo yet.

have taken it to the range a few times and does 25-30/40 comfortably. but need to get to 35/40 more consistantly
Scope is a 3-12x42 Nikko Stirling ( pellet gun scope) - what will be a better option? ( Leupold No Go) Nikon/Bushnell/Tasco/Rudolph?

I am 6.4" tall and the Stock is a little on the short side too is there some Boyds stocks that can work thats a litte longer ?

Have also written a nice letter to Santa for a Anchutz 64MPR and said he will look into it - until then have to work with what we have.

[Bob Mc Alice]

Welcome to the site, Villager. I rarely post anything about rimfire, so this is your lucky day. I have a fondness for the 80 series Marlin .22's. I got my first one, top rifle, in 1964. Real walnut and a gold plated trigger. Cost this kid $39.95 plus tax at a Western Auto store. The center one with the SQ..uirrel embossed on the grip was a pawn shop rescue for my kids to use. The bottom one is my son-in-laws, both stored at my house.

The triggers can be stoned for smoother release, not much else. After market ones? don't know. The rifles are accurate. Ammo is the real key here. Spring for the good stuff, you will see much better grouping. Look for a used Weaver KT-15 scope. Good product for the money. So be good, Santa is watching.

here is a KT-15 on this site. viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9148

[kevinbear]

OMG McAlice, you have rifles that are not Remington and chambered in something other than 7-08!!!!! We want to see an actual picture documenting this to verify your ST account hasn't been hacked.

[African Villager]

Bob Thanks for the reply

Brno( CZ), Mauser ,Voere, Musgrave, Krico, BSA and Walther are the most popular .22lr brands but were mostly boring EU style bolt action Hunters that were very well finished. Anschutz almost had a captive market on most of the Shooting Sport hardware.

Most of American Brands only really became available in the Late 90's in SA and when a very affordable bull barrel( Varmint style rifle) stood on the shelf
in the local gunshop I just had to have it. Rifle only 15years young now. I hated the plastic stock in the beginning as it was something completely different, but as it was used mostly as a work rifle it was the most practical - it doesn't scratch as easily and if it does it doesn't matter - very practical

Attached is a pic of my 2 Rifles (.308 Musgrave and the Marlin in the Synthetic Stock) and also one of its victims .

This little Marlin Rifle has a very respectable reputation in the field and will not believe what it has taken down., it boxes way out of its weight class, the secret is to limit its range to 60-75m in the field.

What is "Stoning " The trigger ? I have these visions of laying it down in a bed of "Swazi Gold" - (Left handed Marlboro's ) for a week.

The blade of the trigger is also very thin and a trigger Shoe I feel will have a better distribution of pressure - be it 4lb ,a wider trigger blade just pulls better than a thin one.

Weaver is not available in SA and our 2 most popular is Lynx or Bushnell and then Swarovski /Zeiss on the Top end . Leupold came in with a big drive and their earlier scopes were very good , but the rubbish they have been making of late is not doing them any favours- their after sales team also does not want to hear they have naughty children.

I had a Nikon Scope 4-12x56 that was used on the rifle - it got damaged after a nasty fall and decided to put a cheapie Nikko Sterling on with a mil dot recticle - I cannot fault this scope at all once its set on a fixed distance - but once you dial up or down never seem to end on the same point you Started.

I am way out of Silhouette practice so first have to build confidence and get some range time....before I can start blaming equipment.

[kevinbear]

I'm curious as to which Leupold scopes you've seen that were poorly manufactured, line and model.
Kevin

[African Villager]

I'm curious as to which Leupold scopes you've seen that were poorly manufactured, line and model.
Kevin

7 scopes I know of

VX R 3-9x40 (2) one on .270 and other on .7mm08 ( Hunting)
Vx 1 3-9x50 (1) 303 ( Hunting)
Vx 3 4.5-14x50 (3) 2x 6.5x55SE and a 7x57M. ( Silhouette Shooters)
Vx 3 6.5-20x56 (1) Sako .300 win mag ( new rifle).

Leupold used to be very good right up there with Zeiss /Swarovski but last 5 years its been utter junk. The type of junk where you end

The Scope on the brand new 300WM Sako had the rifle printing 6-7" groups from a bench at 100 yds - did all the diagnostics - ammo / wood to metal / bore - 100 shots later same thing

Sent the Leupold back and put on a Swarovski on and all of a sudden the rifle shoots 1-2 inch groops at 200m . Leupold came back "fixed" gave it another chance
and made the rifle shoot all over the place again, on the range put back the Swarovski and on point again.

The dealer at this point said he is just as sick and tired off them and showed me he's return stock - another 8-10 scopes lying there .

Not Trying to bash Leupold but seems from 2010 something is not well there and not exactly Cheap Glass.

[kevinbear]

Interesting, never heard of anyone having issues with them right out of the box. I've bought 4 or 5 since 2010 without a problem, maybe they got it in for you guys on the dark continent!

[Bob Mc Alice]

OMG McAlice, you have rifles that are not Remington and chambered in something other than 7-08!!!!! We want to see an actual picture documenting this to verify your ST account hasn't been hacked.

No 700's at the range today, Kev. Had the Ruger, Winchester and the M788, all 7-08's. Are there really other sizes?

[Jim Beckley]

AV, What kind of a snake was that, other than a long one?

[Jim Beckley]

Definitely looks like a two step snake to me. Not really familiar with any snakes from that part of the world, but looks like a Mamba to me.

[kevinbear]

It looks like a ventilated viper to me.

[Bob Mc Alice]

Beckley, I think you are right. It fits this description to a T....minus the bullet holes, of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_mamba

[edgehit]

I think I'd want to carry a Judge for dealing with the mamba. Or set a claymore. Reading about it is going to give me nightmares.

[kevinbear]

I think I'll deal with our little prairie rattlers that have the decency to rattle before biting you.
From the wiki description here's the part I dislike "Its combination of speed, unpredictable aggression, and potent venom make it an extremely dangerous species", and " a bite from a black mamba is rapidly fatal almost 100% of the time". Not 95% not 98%,100%!!!! that's not bad odds, that NO odds. This snake pretty much has all the bases covered, semi-auto 12 gauge is my choice.

[African Villager]

You guys have identified correctly - My Father is a Citrus farmer close to a town Called Hoedspruit up country and these are very common in that area .

2 Weeks back some of the workers armed with a back actor and a rake took these out of sirculation while they were hiding in a anthill. Should give a good feel for size.

not uncommon for them to reach 3m (9ft).