Marlin firearms

[mortar_guy78]

For my most recent birthday my wife and kids conspired between them to purchase exactly what I had been asking for, a Marlin 980SD .22 and a Marlin XL7 .30-06.

I had been looking around at what to get for hunting once I move back to the lower 48 since all of the rimfires in my household belong to the kids and my only big game gun was a Remington 700 7mm Mag.

For the .22 I knew that I wanted a bolt action and it eventually boiled down to the Marlin or the Savage Mark II FVXP. I chose the Marlin for several reasons, not the least of which is that the Savage just FEELS cheap. It's cool looking and the version I looked at even had a fluted barrel, but the action felt gritty and the stock felt like it was made out of recycled soda bottles. I was also informed that Savage farms out the manufacture of some of their .22 rifles to Canada. I've got nothing against our brother Canucks, but with the economy in the crapper I'd prefer that my money stay in America.

This is ultimately why I did not go after a Tikka T3 for my big game gun. It's a great product, but I just don't want my money to go to Finland. I looked at another Remington, but honestly it cost a couple hundred bucks more than the Marlin without offering much. In fact, I'd say that the Marlin is actually a better rifle. The XL7 has an adjustable trigger similar to the Savage Accutrigger, the action is smoother than the 700, and it is significantly lighter. Also, the Marlin costs about as much as Remington's 770 which is a notorious POS.

I'm just going to go ahead and say that I love Marlins. I don't think that I've ever had one of their products that was not a top notch firearm. I had a model 39A as a kid and my father in law has a Model 60 both of which are classics.

All in all it was a great birthday and now I just need to shop around for optics.

[Flesh Thorn]

I have a Model 60, Model 783( .22 Mag), and a Model 336 in .35 Rem. I have made some amazingly lucky shots with the Model 60.