new Marlin 925M

[1000yardstare]

Wholesale Sports in Calgary, Alberta bought out Marlin`s remaining stock of the discontinued 925M wood-stocked rifle in .22 Mag and put them on sale for $50 off. Have been looking for a .22 Mag for a while so mailordered that puppy into the boonies of southern Ontario. Got it in one week.

Cleaned the bore and mounted an old Bushnell 2.5-8X in Tasco tip-off mounts. Bore sighted with my Bushnell collimator to get on the paper at 50 yds. Removed the sling studs to avoid ripping the benchrest bags while sighting in and testing different makes.

Went to my club`s 100 yd range today, 8C (46F), light rain, no wind. Sighted in with Win SuprX. First shot on the paper at 50 yds. Adjusted sights to be 1.5 inch high at 50 which put the SuprX on zero at 100 yds. Trigger pull is a little heavy at a lawyer-proof 5 lbs but it breaks clean and is consistent with no creep. Putting in a lighter trigger spring for 100 yd testing is a future project.

Chronographed the different makes and fired 5 shot 50 yd groups with each. Reasonably happy with the results given the heavy trigger and coolish temps. Results follow showing the best group, impact elevation and velocity of each:

Win SuprX 40 gr 3/4 inch group 1847 fps 1.5 high
Win Supreme 34 gr 11/16 2142 2.0 high
CCI MaxiMag 40 gr 5/8 1941 1.0 high
Rem Premier 33 gr 7/8 2096 1.75 high
Fed Premium 30 gr 1/2 2193 2.5 high
Fed JHP 50 gr 5/8 1575 0.25 high

 

[mitch_04]

Try the Hornady ammo if you get a chance, I've had good luck with mine. I shot under 1" groups at 100, with factory trigger and bedded factory stock. I've since then reworked the trigger. I don't remember if I used the pen spring, or if I grabbed Brownells spring assortments and found one that worked better. I did file the sear to remove pretravel. Now my triggers are anywhere from 1.5-3lbs depending on whether it had pen spring, gunsmithing springs, or rifle basix triggers. I recommend the rifle basix trigger if you don't like filing, but my favorite trigger is with the gunsmithing springs and filed sear. Anywho, sorry for the rant, but if I can help with anything let me know, I've got a soft spot for Marlins.

 

[1000yardstare]

mitch_04............just spotted the Hornady ammo in a Toronto shop`s catalogue. Going in this week to get a box.

I was thinking a pen spring in the trigger and your mention confirms.

Great little rifle for the price.

Bill

 

[TRECustom]

1000ydstare, I have fired the same ammo as you in several different .22 mag rifles. I don't know why, but the Super X hollowpoints have outshot the solids in every one of them, even in the rifles that didn't like Super X, the HP's were tighter. If you don't have some it might be worth trying.

In a H & K Mod 300, the Hornady 30gr V Max shoots the tightest groups. It hovers around 1 moa at 50 and 100 yds, and the Super X HP's are around 1.3 moa. Super X solids shoot an average 2 moa. At 50 yds, even 2 moa doesn't look too bad, but at 100 yds, it looks terrible. The Hornady is the best so far, in this rifle.

Something that I should have known, but didn't do right off, was put a scope on the rifle that had parallax adjustment. At 50 yds the 3 x 9 that I had on it had nearly 1 moa of parallax. At 100 yds it was still about 1/4 moa. I put a 4.5 x 14 on it with an adjustable objective. Groups shot with this scope tightened about 1/2 moa with the parallax adjusted out.

Tom

 

[1000yardstare]

TRECustom...........thanks for the reply. The SuprX I tested were the HP. Never seen the solids locally.

I replaced the heavy factory trigger spring with a pen spring as per mitch_04. Haven`t taken it to the range yet but the trigger pull feels much better.

I am going to replace the Bushnell 2.5-8X with a Bushy 6-24X with parallax adj. Going into Toronto tomorrow to get some Hornady VMax ammo.

November in these parts can be dicey weather-wise. Will wait for some decent temps/wind next week and try the new combo out.

Bill

 

[1000yardstare]

Went to put the Bushnell 6-24X on the 925M and noticed that the front tip-off ring had migrated almost right out of the front of the grooves. The securing screws on the tip-off bases were as tight as possible. Hard to believe that the repeated recoil of a .22 Mag, light as it is, would be enough to cause the mounts to migrate forward.

So decided to replace the tip-offs with Weaver style rings. Looked through the parts box and found a Marlin 336 base that had been on a .30-30. Screw hole spacing is identical. Little too long so bobbed one end and cut a new cross slot. Mounted the 6-24X Bushy, rezeroed with the Bushnell collimator and ready to go tomorrow with a new box of Hornady VMax loads.

 

[TRECustom]

1000yard, I can't see a .22 mag kicking rings loose either. On rimfires, I use whatever aluminum Weaver or Picatinny bases and rings that I have, or can find. They are very common, and very secure on any rimfire. If the rifle is not drilled and tapped for bases, and only has the rimfire dovetail, I've still never had the problem with the rings creeping like you did. Something must have been wrong with the ring clamping fit.

Over the years, I've developed some preferences for ring and base combo's for everything else. My favorites are Weaver Grand Slam bases with Burris Signature Zee rings. They are my first choice on heavy recoiling rifles. Both the bases and rings are steel, but the rings have the hard plastic gimballing inserts. They hold a scope securely without marking it or stressing it.

I know that some of the tactical rings are very strong, but they are also very expensive. If I had a fifty with a heavy scope, I might spring for a pair. On an integral rail, they would be the strongest setup available.

The neatest and cleanest setup is Leupold dual dovetail bases with Burris Signature dual dovetail rings. They handle heavy recoil with most scopes, but they can't be removed without dismounting the scope. Besides looking neat, nothing sticks out from them (knobs, levers) to hang up on clothing etc.

I also like the Leupold QR's, but don't use them on genuine hard kickers. The advantage of the QR's is that the scope can be removed with the rings on it, unlike the dual dovetail rigs.

The Weaver / Burris, and the Leupold QR setups will return within 1 moa after being removed. Not perfect, but good enough to make re-zeroing easy, or if you absolutely had to, take a short range shot without re-zeroing.

I apologize for getting so far off the rimfire subject, and so long-winded, but it's the first time I ever gave much thought to why I came to these preferences, including the budget constraints.

Tom

 

[1000yardstare]

TRECustom.............I agree there might be something wrong with the Tasco one inch tip-off mounts.

I had them mounted a few years ago on a Rem Model 5 in .22 Mag made in Serbia. After 2 shots the whole scope/mount assembly jumped off the rifle with a clunk onto the bench. Thank goodness the bench top was wood. Another club member told me the grooves on top the Model 5 were European and did not match the Tasco tip-off design??

The grooves on top the Marlin receiver are in good old North American inches so the Tasco mounts are suspect.

The forecast tomorrow is for sun, light winds and 15C (59F), great weather for this time of year in these parts. So it is off to my club`s range with a new box of Hornady 30 gr VMax and all the other makes. Let`s see how the 925M works out under the Bushnell 6-24X secured in the Weaver-style base and rings.

To tell the truth this Fall rimfire workout is a nice change of pace from the F Class competition and rifle building that takes up most of my Spring and Summer. And a lot cheaper.

Bill