Anyhoo, reader Chris asks,
I know it has been nearly a year since you posted on your site but I am hoping you can help. I noticed you had a few guns on your blog and I am looking at getting a .22 rifle, just to shoot some cans and have fun, nothing big. Maybe eventually upgrade to hunting. I have heard the Martin Model 60 is a wonderful rifle to start with, I was curious what your thoughts on the rifle are and what rifle you would suggest.Heh. "a few guns on your blog". I like the way Chris thinks. I thought about his questions for a bit, and responded thusly:
Good morning Chris,
I had a Marlin model 60SS (stainless steel) that I got a few years back that was an absolute joy to shoot. Now, I got it at the GOAL (Gun Owner's Action League; MA gun owner's advocacy group) Banquet, where the proceeds went to GOAL, so that's how I wound up with it.
Were I to go out and buy a new .22 rifle off the rack, there's really only one choice: The Ruger 10/22.
It's magazine-fed, with 10-, 25-, and even 50- and 100- round magazines available for it (although the 50- and 100- round magazines are expensive, tempermental, and good only for "shock" or "giggle" value IMHO). I prefer magazines over tubes in just about any case (only exception is lever-action rifles), as the speed of loading translates into more shooting per time at range. Magazines are pretty cheap - new factory 10 rounders can be found for ~ $15 if you look around or $20 pretty much anywhere - so if you pick up a magazine every time you buy a brick of .22LR you can accumulate a pretty fair amount for not a lot of money.
The biggest reason for the 10/22, though, is that there is an entire cottage industry set up to provide the 10/22 owner with aftermarket parts and accessories. Heavy bull barrel? Can do! Peep sights? You got it. Scope mounts to co-witness with iron? Gotcha. The 10/22, along with the 1911 and the AR-15, can be built entirely from parts out of the Brownells or MidwayUSA catalog...
In other words, you can buy a stock 10/22 for about $200 and drop another $2,000 customizing it if you feel like it...
The Marlin? Well, not so much. It's cheaper than the 10/22 - I've seen wood-stocked blue Marlin Model 60s selling for $120 new vs. $180 new for the same configuration 10/22. The other possibility is buying a used one - I've seen used model 60s in fair-to-good conditions selling for as little as $50. The 10/22 rarely drops below $100, and at that it's going to be a beater...
If you don't mind, I'd like to use your letter for a post to go up either later this week or early next week. The Model 60 vs. 10/22 debate is a good one, and there may be some salient points made in favor of the Marlin that I'm not thinking of right now.
Best regards,
Jay G.
MArooned
So, while I like the Marlin, I'd offer that the 10/22 would be a better first .22 autoloader choice (I'd suggest a Henry lever-action for a first .22 rifle). There's absolutely nothing wrong with the Marlin Model 60, don't get me wrong, it's just that there are so many more options available for the Ruger.
Plus, tubular magazines are a PITA at the range...
That is all.
10 comments:
My Ruger 10/22 DSP is the best $150 I have ever spent. It's probably the ONE gun I have that I will never sell. Until, I pick up an underfolder AK, anyway.
+1 for the 10/22. I think it's best choice for a first gun out there. Why would you start with a lever-action?
zeeke,
Try out my wife's Henry, and you'll know.
I picked up a blue/walnut 10/22 about 5 years ago, complete with a cheapo Bushnell 3-9x scope on iron-sighter mounts. At a garage sale, for $100. I recently shuffled guns around, and I realized I hadn't yet fired the thing, just used my stainless one all the time. Took it to the range, and shot little 1" groups at 25 and 50 yards with it. You can put all kinds of barrels, and triggers, and sights and stuff on 'em, but I've got a couple of just plain stock ones, and they shoot better than I can.
My wife, on the other hand, prefers her Marlin 39A with the heavy octagon barrel and open sights. I get tired and wobbly holding the thing up after a few tubes-full, but she loves it. Go figure, but I guess there might be a place for lever-actions for some people.
I very much prefer a Remington bolt action single shot, a 510 or 580 (I have both) with Match EPS ammo, to anything that promotes spray and pray shooting but if pressed I would have to go with the Marlin. I do not like the Ruger. YMMV
I grew up shooting a Marlin mod 60...... good gun. If I couldn't break it as a yout' ..... it must have been pretty well made.
I got to shoot LawDog's Henry .22 repeater, and I just fell in lurve! Want one of my own. Fun shooting, and you can shoot for hours on a teeny handful of dollars. Good stuff.
Bruce,
Better get that underfolder while you still can. Oh, and before it costs more than an AR-15 variant - last time I looked, Four Seasons wanted $600 for a freakin' WASR-10!
zeeke42,
Lever-action rifles aren't as finicky, ammo-wise, as semi-autos. Being able to use the cheapest bulk .22LR ammo possible means more shooting time.
Plus you just can't beat the way cool fun factor of plinking away with a lever gun... :)
Blackwing1,
I have to admit, my Marlin 39A is one of my very favorite rifles, too. And I don't even own a 10/22, believe it or not!
oldblinddog,
I've got a Remington 511 (magazine fed bolt-action) which is a great shooter, so I can understand that sentiment. Sometimes, though, it's just fun to blast away at tin cans or evil orange clays with little regard for accuracy.
Heck, that's the beauty of .22LR. For $13 for a box of 550 rounds, I can spend the better part of an afternoon plinking away...
jimbob86,
Like I said, I've got nothing against the Marlin Model 60. I had one for a short while, and it was quite accurate - somewhere around here I've got a target shot at 10-12 yards with a single hole, dead center, all 15 rounds, that could be covered by a dime...
phlegm,
Those Henrys are great little guns at a fantastic price. I love my Marlin to pieces, but I've got to admit that Bruce's wife's Henry is a slicker action.
Although I try to bring the Marlin to the range whenever possible to break it in more... ;)
Second gun I ever bought was a Ruger 10/22. 27 years ago now... and it's still in my gunsafe. Had to replace the firing pin a year ago since it was a little worn down. Probably 25K rounds through it by now... and still has lots to teach me about shooting.
This last two years it's been seeing more action since I learned the value of cheap practice at Appleseed shoots. Sting (as I've finally named it) now wears a Weaver K7 2.5-7x scope, a sling, and has had the magazine release replaced and the trigger smoothed up and the bolt release dremeled so that I don't need two hands to release it... but it's still a 10/22. It gets passed down to my heirs; it won't get sold.
My first rifle was a Marlin 60. When money was tight, gave it to the father-in-law for Christmas instead of buying a gift. When he passed away, my daughter inherited it. It shoots well and has held up well.
I've got a 10/22 and like it a lot. Nothing bad or particularly good to say about that hasn't already been said.
At one point I had a Henry lever 22. Did not like it. In hindsight, it seems to have had only one flaw. I had to drift the front sight so far to the side that it was barely hanging on and it still wasn't enough to marry up POI and POA at about 15 yards. I had purchased it new and sold it for a good chunk less than I paid for it because of the flaw. Then, of course, it dawned on me that I could have had Henry fix it for free. Doh!
Still, the fact that one got out of the factory shooting so far out of whack turned me off their guns. Unless I get a really "too good to turn down" deal on one, I won't be getting another one of their guns.
Of course, in between the Marlin 60 and the 10/22 is the Remington 597. Magazine fed like the 10/22, but a reasonable amount cheaper. Not as many add-ons for it, but there seem to be more and more as time goes by. With the rebate Remington is offering now, you can get one for $149 or less. I had one of the 22WMR models of it and a coworker has the 22LR one and we both approve of them.
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