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Mossberg 500 Cruiser and Marlin model 60: 1st test

CaddmannQ

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A few weeks back I bought a Mossberg 500 Cruiser and a Marlin mod 60 semi-auto .22 long rifle; but due to pressing issues I was just not able to get out and shoot until yesterday.
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I shot The Marlin first.

This is probably their most inexpensive rifle, black carburized with a black plastic stock and plain iron sights. I paid $190+ for it which is not a bad price locally. You might save $10 at the big-box store.

Anyhow I had heard rumors that the new Marlins were all imported and were not the equal of the Marlins of old. Well I have owned a 1960's version of the same gun, and I can say that while there are a few plastic parts that used to be metal, this is still a tried-and-true design and it really works.

I shot 2 boxes of ammo through it yesterday and it never jammed or misfed a single time. For a semi auto that'd only had one proof shot through it at the factory, then no more, I thought this was an exceptional performance.

I believe it weighs a few ounces less than my old wooden stock Marlin, but I sold that gun 20 years ago & can't compare them side-by-side, unfortunately.

I paid $25 for that old Marlin, well used, and it gave good service, but I can honestly say this gun shoots better.

I was shooting off of sandbags at 50 and 100 yards.

From the 2nd shot I was able to easily put 14 rounds in a 6 inch circle at 50 yards, rapid fire. (Our gun range defines rapid-fire as "faster than one round per second".) For a guy with my eyesight, I thought it was remarkable.

I was not shooting all that well either yesterday. I was only holding a 4 inch group with the mod 464 .30-30 at 100 yards, and on a good day I can shoot a 2-inch group (with the Leupold scope.)

So for me doing anything at all with iron sights was amazing.

I also took out the Mossberg 500 12ga and put 35 shells through it.

This is definitely the thing if you want to intimidate and destroy a home intruder. I put the first five rounds of Olin military boxed 00 Buckshot into the steel Target at 10 yards, from the hip, with satisfying results. This gun is a cylinder bore so beyond 10 yards & shooting from the hip it's pretty hard.

I tried shooting trap with my buddies Remington semi-auto 12 gauge, but with my old eyes, hitting a fast moving Target is all but impossible. They don't change Focus very fast, which is why I gave up flying. I can't look from the ground to the sky to the instruments to the sky quickly enough to make sense of anything.

I also shot the "old" Ruger .22 pistol, which is always fun and shoots flawlessly, and my relatively new.45 ATI mod 1911 ( which had been giving some trouble.)

Last week I had polished the feed ramp on the .45, and I went through 50 of my buddies low recoil reloads without a single misfeed!

I shot silhouettes 5 and 10 yards, but didn't score very well.

Sorry no photos of my targets. We got in a hurry at the range yesterday and I didn't save any.
 
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Gotta love Marlin .22's...

circa 1960...

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circa 1980...

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Had a glenfield model 60 with a squirrel stock just like that, and traded for a marlin 60 in wood and stainless several years ago too.

They've always been pretty good guns in my opinion. A lot of guys don't really like the magazine tube, but it has its' place, meaning whereas it's a lot easier to lose a detachable magazine while going through brush and never to be seen again.

I've never heard of anyone ever losing a magazine tube unless they're self inflicted with CRS (Can't Remember S^!t).
 
If I'm in the wild and I have to take more than 15 shots at something, I'd be in big trouble.
I think for a .22 tube feed makes perfect sense.
 
A mag tube works just as well as anything else does. perhaps even moreso in ways.

Choices are good though.
 
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