I'm sure everyone has seen the new "Shooting Times" feature on the Marlin XL7.

With great cynicism and skepticism, I read the article because it was there. But you know - this gun looks pretty fine.

It is several classes of better than the other bargain guns. There is no comparison between it and Remington's bargain gun.

This gun has good appearance, good accuracy, and good design.

This probably means that Remington will kill it off real quick. They can't have this rifle cannibalizing sales from their bolts.

I read the test and it all looked good. BUT you have to ask yourself....where did the gun come from. They should never test a gun that came directly from the gun maker.....they should come off a store shelf. It's really hard to know how much care was taken on that gun at the factory before being shipped for a review. If I was the factory, the gun I sent out would have been handpicked and range tested!!

Definitely. I would discount the accuracy that was reported. HOWEVER:

For a bargain gun, this gun has exceptional design. I've never liked previous guns that were an amalgamation of best features of many rifles. Like this one is. It seems like "cheating", and they usually have no "soul".

This one may not either, but it does strike me as way beyond anything we've seen so far in the bargain price territory.

You know, (for example) the Remington 770 and 710 just make you retch with repulsion.

The Marlin even takes the ugliest, yet best, feature of the Savage (the barrel nut) and makes it almost look good. Every gun that is targeted at the bargain market should have the barrel nut. It works outstandingly and lowers cost of production substantially (so I'm told).

Then, they put a classically styled stock on it. Now you have to give them kudo's for that. I'm fed up with these mod stocks and wild trigger guards, even though they probably attract new young guys. I love you, new young guys, but fads are fads and in twenty years you will think they are ugly too. It's a matter of taste and style. Sort of how Amy Winehouse turns you on now, but Michell Pfeiffer will make a better pin-up forever.

This is a lot of opinion based on one magazine article. It may be disappointing later. But fo now, i think the bargain priced buyer has something to look forward to - finally.

I looked at it on Marlin's web site...

Wonder how much of it is from the old MR 7 tooling? MR 7s were offered in the same calibers...

Injected molded stocks are easy to purchase in bulk and cheap.. Remington gets SPS stocks and ADL synthetic stocks for like $10.00 each...

Due to competition watch Stevens offering the AccuTrigger on their Stevens 200s....

It's basically a rip-off of the Savage 110.

The floating bolt head looks almost identical to the 110 except that Marlin left off the gas baffle. The tab trigger looks remarkably like the Accu-trigger and it even has a barrel nut.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
It's basically a rip-off of the Savage 110.

The floating bolt head looks almost identical to the 110 except that Marlin left off the gas baffle. The tab trigger looks remarkably like the Accu-trigger and it even has a barrel nut.

So this is a bad thing?

mikeg50, my rem 710 does make me cringe how poorly the action is... and brings tears when i get a ragged hole at 100 yards. you just have to know the trigger is "adjustable"
thats the tradeoff for a ($400?) rifle i suppose. it seems everyone is doing a budget rifle now. this can be good i suppose to get more people into the sport.
i bought my 710 when i was about 14. all i knew was the 30-06 is real popular, and it was the cheapest one in the store. so i begged till it was mine
its a start

why start a new thread on this rifle when this one is already here?

I looked at the write up in the Rifleman saw that it had a Savage type extractor and stopped looking. My Savage bolt actions have given me lots of extraction trouble. Very accurate but extraction trouble great varmint rifles but I wouldn't have one for big game use.

I don't think I'll be buying one.

too, Marlin has a history of producing decent rifles (bolt actions) that don't sell.

it has a touch more eye appeal for me than the Savages, but Savage has been producing theirs for years, and they listen to their customers.

for the money, I'd try one. it could always turn into a collector's item