Marlin X Series Bolt Action
I can't help it, I always feel like a kid a Christmas when something new shows up at the shop but even more so if it's a new rifle. So with out delay, I opened one of the boxes and quickly removed the plastic bag from the rifle. Of course the picture is never complete until the bolt is in the rifle so I dug through the box, found the bolt and slipped it into the gun.
No disappointments so far. Stock feels good, camo looks great, blueing looks great, bolt is smooth. OK, gotta get the oil streaks out of the way on the metal so I can really take a look at things. It was just short of a trot to the bench for a rag.
Wow, what a sharp looking rifle. Flawless !
Putting the gun to my shoulder a few times it's like yea, I could see me shooting one of these. Then it occurred to me that there were no scope bases on the gun and I had not thought to order any. A couple of cuss words later I decided to check out the other gun to see if Marlin could repeat the appearance.
The second rifle was peeled out of the box and out of the plastic. Helloooo, this one has a scope base. What's up with that? Back to the first box and inside the box was a package containing a scope base.
So how did the second rifle clean up? Flawless like the first one.
I shouldered one of the rifles again and squeezed the trigger. Holy crap, I didn't have to strain anything, this gun must be defective. But seriously, I stuck the gun in the vice and assembled my Lyman digital trigger scale. 3 lbs 11 ounces. I checked it 5 times for an average of 3 lbs 10 ounces. The second rifles trigger broke the 1st time at 4 pounds and after 3 or 4 pulls it was down around 3 lbs 10 or 11 ounces.
So I stood the guns in the rack and admired them a minute. Then I realized they even have swivel studs already in place. I'm thinking that for the price, these puppies are pretty sharp. I got on the computer, checked inventory and called my salesman. I said "your inventory shows that you have these Marlins in 243" He said "we have 2 of them" and I replied "no, you only have 1 of them because I want the other one."
In my mind I am comparing the Marlin to the Stevens Model 200. I've tried selling the Stevens and have been disappointed in it's acceptance. Personally, I think it's the matte finish blueing and the nasty colored stock. The Stevens lacks an adjustable trigger and standing along side a Marlin camo, it's apples to oranges in appearance and only a trip to the range will tell the performance. I already know the Stevens will shoot nice little groups even with it's basic trigger.
Reading through Marlin's site on the X series I end up a little confused. They show the following models:
XL7
XL7C
XL7W
XS7
XS7C
XS7Y
Reading the specs on the XL7 it shows a black synthetic stock but says nothing about Pillar Bedding.
Reading the specs on the XS7 it shows a Pillar bedded black synthetic stock
So OK, XL is a standard stock and XS is Pillar bedded.
WRONG
XL is Long action
XS is Short action
Both are Pillar Bedded
C=Camo W=Walnut and Y=Youth
OK, Now I got it, sorry I'm a little slow. In the fine print of the description of the XL7 it does say Pillar Bedded but you would think they would write up the Spec sheets the same.
The Stevens is offered in more calibers and generally has a faster twist rate. I am anxious to see how the Marlin's will shoot.
Bill
Stock photos from respective web sites
