My first 22lr bolt action - Marlin XT22R

[Bhargav]

hi guys,

So I picked up a Marlin XT-22R bolt action in 22lr. I am loving it so far, the action .. it has to be bolt

I have fired around 350 rounds so far through it, did a proper breakin of the barrel and clean and lube it after every 200ish rounds.

Here are some pics:













Thanks.
Bhargav

[xl_target]

Very nice Bhargav,
Please give us your impressions of the gun.
Trigger? Magazines?
How well does she shoot? Targets?
how hard will it be to mount a scope?

looking forward to your review.

[Bhargav]

Very nice Bhargav,
Please give us your impressions of the gun.
Trigger? Magazines?
How well does she shoot? Targets?
how hard will it be to mount a scope?

looking forward to your review.

Thanks xl.

Sure, here are some of my observations:

Built:
I like the composite stock, its well built and feel bulky and heavy. The rifle overall is well balanced so even though it has the composite stock you don't feel front heavy.

Barrel:
Marlin's xt22 series have a micro groove rifling in the barrel and they say that this improves accuracy. Well the accuracy was just great right out of the box but I did had to adjust the sights.

Sights:
I personally think that Marlin should put a screw adjustible windage rear sight. Currently in order to adjust the windage on the rear sight, one needs to tap it with a hammer. The elevation can be adjusted by pushing or pulling the plate which already has notches.
I am going to change the sights to tech-sights (http://www.tech-sights.com/) anyways.

Trigger:
It has a crisp trigger and its adjustible for poundage. I have not adjusted it coz it was just perfect right out of the box. it has a small lever in front of the trigger and that is the trigger safety. The trigger will not break unless that lever is pressed.

Bolt:
For a 22lr, the bolt is heavy and bulky. According to me it just reflects the quality and is not cheap-ed out.

Scope:
We can install a scope on this rifle but I will not be doing it, I will install the GI style tech-sights. GI style is the type of sights that are on the M1 Garand WWII rifle.

I will soon post the target pics.

So far I think the rifle likes CCI standard velocity(40gr, 1024fps) bullets. I have cleaned the barrel again and will give it a try and see how it behaves.

[xl_target]

That sounds great. I'm glad you like it.
CCI standard velocity is very consistent ammo. Try as many different brand of ammo as possible. Your rifle may like some more than others. One word of advice, when you switch to a different ammo, shoot at least 10 rounds before you start shooting for groups. The lube from the old ammo will affect the new stuff. You will have to shoot out any old lube before you can get consistent results with the new ammo.

Tech sights are fine but please note that they are not target sights. They are fine for getting a quick sight picture or for 25 yard work but the front post is too large for precision work. You will never get the best out of your gun with them. However they do work.
As an alternate sight set, take a look at the famous Williams Gun Sight company. They offer precision open and peep sights. I'm not suggesting that you buy them just offering an alternative so you are aware of other options.

[Bhargav]

That sounds great. I'm glad you like it.
CCI standard velocity is very consistent ammo. Try as many different brand of ammo as possible. Your rifle may like some more than others. One word of advice, when you switch to a different ammo, shoot at least 10 rounds before you start shooting for groups. The lube from the old ammo will affect the new stuff. You will have to shoot out any old lube before you can get consistent results with the new ammo.

Tech sights are fine but please note that they are not target sights. They are fine for getting a quick sight picture or for 25 yard work but the front post is too large for precision work. You will never get the best out of your gun with them. However they do work.
As an alternate sight set, take a look at the famous Williams Gun Sight company. They offer precision open and peep sights. I'm not suggesting that you buy them just offering an alternative so you are aware of other options.

Thank you for the info xl.

I looked at the williams gun sights but I guess they are mainly for Ruger. Marlin does not have many after market parts available. AFAIK tech-sights is the only one that makes after market sights for Marlin.

I will keep the 10 shot tip in mind. So far I have tried the Winchester 22lr solids high velocity, Remington subsonics,
CCI minimags, CCI standard velocity and Wolf match grade.

And out of all, the most accurate were the CCI standard velocity. Winchesters had bad wax on all their bullets. The wax was so bad that I was finding it hard to load my magazine.
I was surprised that the Wolf match grade did not perform well. But again, my barrel was dirty (~300 prior rounds) and then I was shooting 50 yards with a metal sight on a bench rest plus I had not slept well the last night so anything can contribute to the bad performance .

I have saved half boxes of each and have cleaned the barrel and I plan to do the test again next time I visit the range.

-Bhargav.

[Vikram]

Sweet,Bhargav. Hearty congratulations.Nice looking rifle and you are having fun.


Best-
Vikram

[Bhargav]

Sweet,Bhargav. Hearty congratulations.Nice looking rifle and you are having fun.


Best-
Vikram

Thanks vikram, it's lot of fun especially when the ammo is very cheap.

[xl_target]

Bhargav,
From what I have been reading, some guys have had good luck with the CCI subsonics in that rifle.

[Bhargav]

Bhargav,
From what I have been reading, some guys have had good luck with the CCI subsonics in that rifle.

Sure, I will give it a try. Btw, remington subsonics were all over the place.

[dev]

Really like the look of this rifle. the Marlin rear sight seems to be a hangover from the old 39A. The stock seems like part sharing with Remington (now that Remington has acquired Marlin). I have been eyeing the same sights for my model 60 but I think that it is rather expensive. Please post some groups when you can.

Regards,

Dev

[xl_target]

Bhargav,
I see some fingerprints on your barrel. If left unattended, it will cause rust.
Every so often spray a little CLP on a rag and wipe down all the blued parts. The first time, let it sit overnight before wiping it off. This will allow the CLP to penetrate the pores of the metal. After that you can just wipe it down and wipe it off right away. You can pick up a spray can of CLP at Walmart for just a few bucks. Also if you're not going to shoot it for a while, run a CLP soaked patch through the barrel after cleaning. Just remember to run a dry patch through it before shooting.

[winnie_the_pooh]

Bhargav,thanks for sharing your new acquisition. If you are looking at replacing the sights,you may want to have a look at the Marbles site http://www.marblearms.com/.The rear sight looks a lot like something that they make and you might find something better to replace it on their site.

[sandy_3126]

Congrats Bharghav, You can never go wrong with a marlin. Great buy buddy

[Bhargav]

Dev, Winnie, Sandy ... Thanks guys .. glad you liked the pics.

Winnie, I will check out the sights .. lets see if they are compatible with the Marlin xt.

Bhargav,
I see some fingerprints on your barrel. If left unattended, it will cause rust.
Every so often spray a little CLP on a rag and wipe down all the blued parts. The first time, let it sit overnight before wiping it off. This will allow the CLP to penetrate the pores of the metal. After that you can just wipe it down and wipe it off right away. You can pick up a spray can of CLP at Walmart for just a few bucks. Also if you're not going to shoot it for a while, run a CLP soaked patch through the barrel after cleaning. Just remember to run a dry patch through it before shooting.

My current cleaning ritual is, I clean the bore with a Tipton carbon rod using brass brush and hoppes no. 9. Then I let the barrel soak for around 5 mins and then push a dry patch. Then I push wet patches until the patches come out very clean. Then I push 2-3 dry patches to completely remove hoppes. And then I run a patch with remoil. Then I run 2 dry patches to remove excess oil.

I clean the internals of the rifle and the bolt using q-tips and rem oil on them. Then I put 4-5 drops of remoil on two patches and wipe the full barrel from outside (blued surface) and give it a good coat of oil so that it doesn't rust.

Btw what is CLP ?

[Bhargav]

Ah found it. The break free clp. Will get a bottle from Walmart.