Marlin XT-22R

Poor accuracy. Don't waste your money – I had been wanting to purchase an entry level .22 bolt action rifle for a little while mainly for rabbiting and to introduce my teenage daughter to the sport of target shooting. My larger caliber centrefire rifles at home just weren't the right tools for the job. So when I attended the SSAA gun show in Melbourne earlier this year and saw a stand offering a Marlin XT-22 package which included rifle, 4 x 40 scope and gun bag all for $399 I thought "what a great deal." I held the display rifle (both the synthetic and wood versions) and it felt pretty well balanced and very simple to use. The bolt action has a 2 stage feel which (which I don't find ideal), but otherwise felt solid and looked well made for an entry level rifle. I asked the sales rep the usual questions about accuracy, reliability, etc to which he gave the standard replies of "it shoots well, I haven't heard any complaints" etc. I signed up there and then for the synthetic stock Marlin XT-22R and paid a deposit.

I tried to convince my mate who I was with to get one too, but he had his eye on a slightly more expensive Remington. How I wish I had of followed his lead.

The next week I eagerly picked up the rifle and unpackaged it at home. The scope and rings were cheap crap (which was expected) however the rifle looked and pretty good. I fitted the scope (with plans to buy a better one in the near future) and took the rifle to the range that weekend to sight it in.

I had enourmous difficulty bringing the grouping into anything resembling consistent. One shot would be near the centre, then the next would be 6 inches to the right or left. I spent hours dialling in the scope with not much improvement. After 3 frustrating hours, I gave up and went home.

I immediately thought the problem would be the scope, after all it was cheap crap. I purchased a Vortex Crossfire 3-9x40 and decent rings and fitted them to the Marlin thinking all my accuracy issues should now be fixed.

A couple weeks later I made it back to the range to sight in the new scope. Some how the accuracy on the Marlin was worse. At 50 metres I wasn't even hitting paper. To my embarrassment, some of my rounds hit the baffling on the ceiling! I have been shooting for years and consider myself a pretty good shot, so I knew there had to be a bigger issue. I had some of the other range members have a shoot and they too couldn't hit the target. No use of laser bore sightsers or other sighting tools assisted. I soon realised the issue was the rifle itself. The next day I took the rifle back to the firearms dealer where it has been sent off to be assessed.

So in short, if you are in the market for an entry level .22 rifle bolt action, my advice is to skip past the Marlin and purchase another brand. My mate loves his Remington which is what I will probably trade my Marlin in for when I get it back.