Good shooting rifle. If it had a clip it would be perfect for my use.

in general most people will complain even after you hand them 100 bucks for nothing. You see reviews with nothing but complaints and hard to believe mishaps. I ordered this rifle after much research via you tube and articles on the internet. this would be my son's first deer rifle, all weather, new condition and powerful enough for any game. we received the package 3 days after it was finally paid off via lay-a-way. packaging was very tight and saw no signs of scuffing. We installed a bipod, sling and leupold 4-12 x40mm rifleman with the base that came with the rifle. At this point this is where most reviews end without proving the rifle, You see this especially on you tube, I feel the rifle should be based upon a firing session as its purpose is not intended to look at but hunting.......Went to to the range today, took some reloads I bet were 10 years old, have no idea what the load is, but sure they were 190 grain bullets. Took me about ten rounds to get into the center of the bull, I always put my point of impact 1'' high of point of aim but you know kids bullseye is a bullseye and if it ain't it don't count, first three officially about 3/4'' wide. not bad.... trigger was so good I failed to notice, recoil was unnoticeable, action smooth, stock is very comfortable and all is so light am thinking I need one. I will get some match grade bullets and put together some info later on, at this point I am very pleased the rifle is similar to savage but looks good where savage is godzilla in appearance, itsgood to see american quality is still available in america at a price to boot. Bud you did good again keep up the good work sorry I did not have anything to whine about again, maybe some I will get to. Maybe someday I will review a firearm I never shot either HA!!!

The good: The stock is well made, though a hollow composite, with deep checkering not found on most economy stocks. The recoil pad is totally awesome, and soaks up even the heaviest 180 gr. loads with ease. It utilizes twin pillars for bedding and a front pressure pad. Sling swivels are installed tightly and are either stainless or matte nickel. They match my Uncle Mike's swivels exactly. The Profire trigger is easily adjustable out of the stock, though mine still has some creep or takeup after engaging the safety lever with your finger. The weight is very user-friendly, and the muzzle doesn't climb much for a big cased cartridge. The bolt handle is smallish in size and very Remington, as is the safety lever. They are still very usable. The bolt itself is smooth and locks up tight. The blind magazine seems to hold a length of Z shaped spring steel and a Teflon-type follower. It feeds and loads well. This is a plus for me, as I don't like rattling magazines. A multiple slotted rail sits on top of the action, aiding in eye relief adjustment. In the end, Marlin accuracy eventually was found in plain old Winchester Power Point 165's after many hours of work. It now shoots 1" groups or less using only a bipod for a rest. The cons: Packaging is poor. The bolt comes filthy and loose in the cardboard divider. The front scope rail mounting screw head broke off during tightening. It really doesn't matter, since Remington chose to tap the hole directly into the barrel thread area. This leaves only a very shallow few threads to hold the front screw, which evidently is long enough to contact the barrel thread and break the head. Three will be enough. The stainless finish is smooth, but stained in places from the mfg. process. Unfortunately, it also is shipped without a good bead blasting. The shiny appearance is attractive after a good cleaning, though probably a negative when shooting on sunny days. On the inside, the barrel and chamber were some of the dirtiest I have ever cleaned on a new rifle. It still shoots a little finicky with several different loads and quite hot to the touch after several shot strings, so I wonder about the rifling diameter. To get less than baseball sized groups, I had to float the barrel well by sanding off those front pressure pads in the stock. Plastic is my business, so I know there is no reason to mold a synthetic stock in this fashion unless a design/product engineer thinks it best. It's certainly not. C'mon fellas, look at the competition once in a while. All in all, The Marlin is still a great value. You can't get a good used stainless rifle for anything even close to Bud's price for this new one. As long as you like to work on your guns and are quite careful while doing so, you can make a really sweet piece out of an economical work horse. It's built in the USA and made to last for generations, and that's why I put more effort into it than I normally would.

Excellent Value!!! Less than $400 for a stainless MOA rifle! I have had this rifle for about a month now after researching for about a year. I'm so glad I finally went ahead and purchased. It will shoot MOA with cheap Remington Core Lokt and cheap South African PMP ammo; often two bullets will be in the same hole. 150, 165 and 180gr's all shoot great. I bought this as my all around hunting rifle for Whitetail, Blacktail, Hogs, Muledeer and hopefully Elk someday. The trigger is fantastic, fells like a match two stage, when you feel the center blade fully compress and your finger touch the main blade you know the rifle will fire with just a little more pressure, it breaks totally cleanly, no creep. This rifle has been criticized for not having a removable magazine and I agree that it is a little harder to load and unload than a magazine fed rifle or one with an opening floor plate but the flip side of that is the totally smooth, clean underside of the stock. It is very comfortable to shoot from all field positions and there is no cold metal floor plate at the balance point to freeze your hand while carrying when hunting. Since most of the competitions magazines are plastic with plastic releases I'm happy Marlin spent the money elsewhere. Speaking of plastic, the only two pieces I can find in this rifle are the stock and the magazine follower. Even the sling swivel studs are stainless unlike the completions molded in plastic offering. The bolt is very smooth and took little time to break in, when it is unlocked one need only tip the rifle back about 15 degrees and it slides open. The rifle arrived with a one piece Weaver type scope base mounted BUT the screws were not torqued or locktited which was an easy fix, definitely check this before mounting a scope and attempting to sight in. I also checked and locktited the action screws. The finish of the stainless is so-so with a few light tool marks, a little steel wool in a couple of places could make it better but for a budget entry level hunting rifle I have no complaints. I am 6'4", 200lbs and find this rifle very comfortable to shoot and carry. The 22 inch barrel is long enough to get the most out of the cartridge but the rifle still feels fairly handy. I topped mine with an also excellent Nikon Monarch African 1-4x20 scope in Leupold rings and love the combo. I have very fast both eyes open acquisition ability for quick shots in thick cover and enough magnification to get me out to 300 yds or so while keeping me honest about the capabilities of both myself and the cartridge. My only complaint is that when my rifle arrived the bolt was loose in the box and during shipping and handling had dinged up the stock and made a couple of marks in the stainless finish. Annoying but this is a field gun and going to get banged up anyway so I let it slide. All in all I feel like I got a great deal on a rifle I plan on using for many seasons to come.

Wonderful rifle for the price!! Very well constructed. Best trigger I've seen in years, smooth fluted bolt, pillar bedding, barrel-nut construction. Will shoot MOA. Backed by Marlins warranty. You can't go wrong with this one.