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Advise on 22LR Bolt Action Rifle

5K views 22 replies 14 participants last post by  terryu1 
#1 ·
My family loves going to the range to shoot. Mostly the nephews at 50 and 100 yards with 22LR and myself at 150. My dad has an older Winchester pump and a Glenfield (made by Marlin) bolt action and both are amazingly reliable.

I took my semi auto 22lr out, a Mossberg, and unless I shoot the expensive ammo it jams, and is generally less fun or a pain in the butt.

I'd like to pick of a nice 22lr bolt action rifle and see good prices on Marlin and Savage models but have a question. Because we are at the range we don't want to spend time reloading all the time so I want to get several magazines for the rifle.

I am looking for advice on a bolt action 22lr, 10rd magazine feed, with a good supply of inexpensive magazines available. Does anyone know if 10rd mags are available for the bolt action rifles for $5 - $8 or so? I plan on getting 10 magazines.
 
#2 ·
Marlin has a tube fed model of the XT-22, I believe it holds 17 .22LR's in the magazine. You just pull a rod out the bottom and dump in 17 more. The other models have 7 round mags. I'm not sure if they make 10 rounders. And the Savage Mkii has 10 rounders for sure. However mags go for a lot more than $8 though
 
#4 ·
Winchester Wildcat is long out of production so finding one for sale new won't be easy, unless you know a place. A quick search on Google didn't find anything.

The tube feed Marlin looks nice but with multiple young ones shooting reloading becomes a problem. We usually have them reload their magazine while the other is shooting so tube feed would get in the way of that. But does look very nice.
 
#7 ·
No worries. I did a quick search and it seems it was a Russian made gun with the Winchester name on it and they included more mags because they have to be hand adjusted to work.

Think I will head to the store and get my hands on the Savage and the Marlin and see which one feels better and is priced better. The Marlin is only a 7rd mag but I'll check it when I see it and see how it feels.
 
#8 ·
Yup - a modified version of the TOZ-78.
Winchester did ask to have the gun sent in to be fitted for any extra magazines you wanted to buy for it, but in reality it was just a bit of filing on the plastic on the front of the mag -

It's a shame - the gun got excellent reviews.
 
#9 ·
Mt 100, the days of the $8 mag are long gone, they're somewhere between $15 and $20 now. I would suggest the Savage. If your on a budget just get the cheapest clip fed with the accu trigger and synthetic stock and it'll last a lifetime for those kids. I have 2 of them, a 17HMR and a .22, they both are the cheaper ones and shoot great and I'm pretty sure they make 10 rnd mags. Hank
 
#10 ·
I pretty much have it down to two guns. The Savage Mark 2 GXP from Dick's for $199 and the Marlin XT-22RO. Walmart has the Marlin on their site but no store seems to know how to get it but it is $212 if they can.

I was planning on getting 5 or so mags for whatever I get. The Marlin ones seem to be around $11 for 7rd and the Savage around $15 for 10rd. The Marlin seems to have a better scope on it too.

Marlin XT-22RO
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Marlin-XT-22RO-22LR-Bolt-Action-Rifle-with-Scope-Synthetic/19232224

Savage 64 Mark2 GXP
http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/shop/index.jsp?categoryId=12243955&ab=ACLN1_Link_Rifles_22Rimfire

Does anyone have experience with either of these two?
 
#12 ·
I own a Marlin Model 25 bolt-action. It has a 7 round magazine which Cheaper Than Dirt was selling rather inexpensively. About $15 each if I remember correctly. Those are very good rifles. They are out of production so you'd have to find it used. It would be well worth it though. They are very accurate. Small bore seems to be Marlin's niche anyway.
 
#15 ·
I picked up the Savage after looking at them at Dicks. Very nice gun and I hope to get to the range soon.

Thanks everyone.
We want a range report, with pictures! And Welcome to the forum!
 
#16 ·
After 50 years in the work place with no time for hobbies of any kind I have finally retired to Northern Michigan. Hunting and fishing are big up here. I unpacked an old Marlin 22 single shot rifle that my dad bought for me when I was in Boy Scouts. It was in good condition, having been protected with gun grease and kept in a gun case. But it misfires frequently, probably every third round goes click. Do I need a professional or is there something that I can do to correct this problem ?
 
#17 ·
Went out to the range over the weekend and sighted it in and did some shooting.

I must say, I like this gun. Very accurate, feels nice while shooting, and the scope is surprisingly decent for being included.

After sighting in at 25, then 50, and 100 I was putting them in a 2.25" pattern for the most part with a few strays at 100yds that were off a bit more. I was shooting Remington Golden Bullet and Winchester Wildcat hollow point rounds.

For the price, I have $211 into the gun, and $38 into two extra 10rd mags so not bad at all for a great gun!
 
#19 ·
After 50 years in the work place with no time for hobbies of any kind I have finally retired to Northern Michigan. Hunting and fishing are big up here. I unpacked an old Marlin 22 single shot rifle that my dad bought for me when I was in Boy Scouts. It was in good condition, having been protected with gun grease and kept in a gun case. But it misfires frequently, probably every third round goes click. Do I need a professional or is there something that I can do to correct this problem ?
Welcome to TFF Rick, glad to hear you've got the time to shoot more and get that little classic out again. Depending on how well you've cleaned it, I have a feeling that the grease may be the problem. It most likely just needs a good cleaning and some light oil. Be sure to clean the extractor and firing pin areas completely. A little bit of build-up can cause these frequent misfires. If you aren't confident in taking it down to little pieces, hopefully you have a qualified gunsmith nearby and a thorough cleaning and inspection shouldn't cost more than $40-50 and will be well worth it for some hassle-free shooting. Gotta bring back some great memories to shoot it again.
 
#20 ·
Most magazines will run more around $11-14 for the Savage MkII, but they won't disappoint you at the range for what you're looking for. Mossberg mags are a little less expensive, but I think the better Savage quality is worth a few extra bucks.
 
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