Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Rimfires .22 Mag selection.... Marlin or Savage?

I would like to purchase a .22 mag. Thinking Savage or Marlin with the slightly heavier barrel contour(Savage; 93FV & Marlin; 982VS, 982VS-CF & XT-22MVSR). Blued or stainless. Standard stock(no thumbholes, barrel fluting(but saying that, that BRJ Savage looks great ) or fancy stuff).

The reason I'm not looking at the standard barrel contours is. My son owns a 925, & I find that a tad too stock heavy. I really prefer more barrel weight in my rifles for a hunting........ Maybe the new XT's or standard contour Savages have this feature?
I will shoulder some within the next few days......In the mean time I need advice.

I could probably source one of the older Marlin's(9.. series) if I wanted. But are these better than the newer XT Marlins?
Savage looks great & I have heard they're superbly accurate. I did hear Marlin generally shoot. My sons 925 certainly does!

Any more accurate over the other? Reliability, function, design.......Which is the more simple & robust

I had the thought on my mind a month or so ago to get a .17hmr and handled both the new Marlins and Savages. To tell the truth, I didn't like the actions on either, they just felt really cheap compared to the 1970's -90's rimfire bolt guns I'm used to.

If it were me, I'd look hard at the used market. Specifically the Marlins from the late 80's and 90's. If you want a little more weight up front you might try a tube mag. I don't like em much but it's all in personal preference.

CB

I thought that when we bought the 925, but after use & working the bolt it has become one slick unit!
I dig how strong the bolt & action is. And in some ways I like it better than my Brno Model 2

Let me time how long it takes for a CZ pondit to jump in here.

Savage...

I currently have a variety of 18 Marlin and Savage bolt action RF rifles in 17HM2, 17HMR, 22LR, and 22MRF.

I do not like the Savage synthetic stocks as well as the Marlins, a they are physically smaller/narrower and seen to have more drop at the comb. The Marlin barrels are also longer and tend to balanace, with the synthetic stocks, a little forward or muzzle heavy with both light sporter and heavy varmint contours. If you swap to the heavier laminated stocks, the Savage rifles become more user friendly and (maybe) a little handier because of the shorter barrels.

I currently have 9 Savage Mark II and 93 series RF rifles, but I don't shoot any of them regularly. In contrast, I currently have 9 Marlin 900 series RF rifles, with 7 of 9 being shot regularly. My most used 22MRF rifles are a pair of light/sporter weight Marlin 982S.

Jeff

Over the years I've had about a dozen .22 magnum rifles from Marlin, Savage, Mossberg, Winchester and Ruger. My current Marlin 882 {circa 1990} is by far the most accurate of any I've owned. It is a true sub MOA shooter with it's preferred loads. Most of the other's were hard pressed to print 1.5" 100 yard groups and a couple wouldn't do better than 2". I have several other Marlin rimfires from the late 70's - early 90's. They're all good shooters and of visibly better quality than more recent production. If I were in the market for another rimfire rifle I'd look for a good used one from that time frame.

Marlin 882 SS and thank me later. Extremely accurate, and tough as hell.

i currently shoot 22WMR rifles by CZ, TC, Ruger, and 3 marlins, dont have any real complaints on any of them as far as accuracy.

also would agree the current production marlin are somewhat rough as compared to some older models. actions feel gritty when cycleing the bolt, etc. they all function fine...and accuracy is great...just dont feel as smooth. i did the ink-pen spring trigger job on my marlins, and works like a charm, so the newer models featuring the XT trigger "upgrade"...well, for me, that was a fix of a non-existant problem.

as 260Remguy said, i also like the feel of the marlin stock over the savage.

My 'go to' wmr. All the others have gone bye-bye, as they didn't come close to it. I kind of miss my 1894M and 9422M, but they weren't as accurate as the Marlin bolts.
If I were looking for a great 22mag, it would be the 882ss or find a good older 782 or 783.

i've got a marlin 783 that i've had nearly forever. added a replacement target sear and it became even better. the .22 mags have a lot more capacity as a hunting gun than they are given credit.

If you look at the quality of the magazines, Marlin wins hands down The Savage magazines work well, but are flimsy and cheapashell. The Marlin magazines are, at least, substantial and strongly made.

Of course, that's not a reflection on the rifles as a whole, but then again.........

A plus for the Marlins in 17HMR and 22MRF is that you can get a shorter 4-shot magazine that is nearly flush with the bottom of the stock, so it carries without having to work around the protruding 7-shot magazine.

Jeff

I bought this one. http://www.savagearms.com/firearms/model/

Outstanding balance.
I have to disagree with the mag being better on the Marlin. But it is slicker mag straight up, no doubt!(the stainless version of the Savage was slicker in all departments, with the one I tested at least). But IMO the Savage is a little more KIS with strength(2 steel lips)! The Marlin is robust though!
Trigger on the Savage is better after comparing em, as is the general overall fit N finish. Plus I have plenty of USA made rifles, which are outstanding!...... This Canadian company do look like they know how to make a rifle from what I can see.....

Thanks for your comments lads

Your link didn't work for me, which Savage model did you end up with?

I have 2 Savage 93s; a 93BVSS that started life as a 93FvSS and a 93BTSS. Both shoot consistant MOA+/- groups, but I shoot the Marlin 982S more often 'cause they are the resident truck guns for trucks that reside in gsquirrel country and the stock ergs work well for me.

Glad that you found a 22 MRF that works well for you. Options are nice to have, since 1 size does not fit all equally.

Jeff

I had a Marlin 882SSV in 22 mag. It was insanely accurate and a hoot to shoot. Gave it to the rancher on the property I shoot from.

Nelson

Savage 93 FV(.22Mag), Leupold PRW's & VX11 2-7x33

If the stock fits you, they don't fit me very well, the 93FV has the potential to be an accurate rifle. My advise is to try a variety of ammo until you find the brand and bullet weight that works the best in your rifle. I wish that mine shot the $7 per box Fiocchi as well as they generally shoot more expensive CCI, Federal, Remington, and Winchester ammo.

Good luck and good shooting!

Jeff

Just bought a Savage 93 walnut & blued regular barrel. Every Savage centerfire I've owned I've loved, but the party is ending. This gun , after 6 different types of ammo is shooting 3" groups at best. The screws that hold the stock to reciever were loose out of the box, and the firing pin doesn't hit hard enough to set off the charge when it's cold outside!! (like below 20) Had to put the bolt in my pocket for a while. I'm not however getting the 'cheap' feel. It fits me fine and all, and maybe it just hasn't met the ammo it truly loves, biut I expected better.

The 2 light/sporter barreled Savage Mark II and 93R17 that I've owned were the only Savage Mark II and 93 series rifles that I've owned that wouldn't shoot, regardless of the ammo I tried. My solution was to rebarrel them via Green Mountain 77/22 barrels, the Mark II morphed from 22LR to 17HM2, but 93R17 remained a 17HMR, but with a heavy/varmint flutted barrel and both rifles were also restocked with laminated handles.

I've never owned a Savage Mark II or 93 series rifle with a walnut stock, just those with synthetic or laminated stocks. The synthetic stocks on the F/FVs that I've owned were very thin/narrow when compared to the factory laminated wood and they just didn't fit me very well, but stocks are a very individual thing. The Boyds rimfire target hunter is a stock that I like alot. I have 2 installed on Mark IIs in 17HM2, the F that had been rebarreled and an FV, my last 2 synthetic stocked Savage RFs.

Jeff

I have been shooting a Marlin 883S for the last few years and mirrors the results of the other Marlin shooters here.

I was teaching a ladyfriend to shoot and within 1/2 hour I had her shooting egg's at 100 yards on each pull of the trigger! Truly accurate rifles. I went with the tube fed magazine because that way I could never lose it or forget it! LOL