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Purplehood wrote: The Marlin I bought for my son is a Model 795 but with a fiberglass (or kevlar?) stock. Nice, full size .22 LR.

Probably "fiberglass-reinforced polycarbonate"

shootthesheet wrote:The only reason I wanted to get a 10/22 was the magazine capacity.

FYI, 20 and 30 round magazines are available for the Remington 597, and 20 rounders are available for the Marlins. The Marlin magazines also interchange with their bolt-action .22LRs and also with the Mossberg copies AFAIK. Stock mag on the Marlin is 10 rounds.

A Marlin Model 60 has a 16 round capacity AFAIK... don't quote me on that though. There is a speed-loading thingy for tube-magazine .22LR rifles that makes it a snap to load but I am with you about tube magazines. My dad has a fun Winchester rifle that's very accurate and nice to shoot but loading the tube magazine drives me crazy. However, the Model 60 just handles so nice, I can maybe get used to the tube mag.

frazzled wrote:What's your view on the Marlin vs. the Remington types for an adult sized shooter?

I have a Marlin 795SS, and it was a close call between that one, a Remington 597 and a Marlin Model 60. In reality, I wanted one of each. The Marlin just had the best combination of features for me.

The Remington feels "bigger" and is heavier in your hands with a longer barrel IIRC compared to a Marlin 795. A Model 60 has a longer barrel but a tube magazine, so this may be something that affects your choice. I think the length of pull on the Remington is maybe a quarter or half inch longer (just based on my subjective "feel") than the Marlins, but all of them are an inch or more longer than a Ruger 10/22. The Ruger feels much more "youth" sized to me.

The main things that convinced me to go with my Marlin 795SS over the Remington 597 were as follows:

1. Remington has spotty reports of reliability of the magazines, too-frequent reports of problems for my tastes. May not be a problem, but it was a consideration. Marlin 795 & others using the same action/magazine has a pretty much flawless reputation for reliability, but maybe it's just that much less popular than a Remmy
2. I liked the sights on the Marlin a lot better
3. The price of the blued Remington was close to the price of a stainless 795, so I felt like I was getting a little more for my money with the 795.

If I had $2K of extra money to spend on guns right now, I would buy a couple of centerfire rifles and then buy one each, a blued/wood-stock Marlin model 60, a Remington 597 in .22LR, and a Remington 597 in .17HMR. I really was on the fence about which rifle to buy right up until I walked out the door with the Marlin.

If you want a 10/22, then get a 10/22. Academy's price will be within $10 of the best price you can find anywhere.

However, besides being a "Ruger 10/22", and the upgrade/customize/etc. angle, there is little to recommend it IMHO over the competition. The length of pull is short and it feels like a toy. For the same money you can get an adult-sized STAINLESS Marlin 795, for less you can get a very nice wood-stock/blued Marlin Model 60, and a blued/poly Mossberg plinkster is 1/2 that price and a pretty dang nice gun. A Remington 597 is definitely the more adult-size gun and Academy typically has them with a scope mounted for $150ish. There's a Savage in there too... Speaking of that, I want one of each of these! :)

I know a lot of folks are going to show up saying a Ruger 10/22 is the best .22LR rifle on the planet. If you want to replace virtually every part on the gun to make it accurate and mount lights and rails and all that on it then I guess it probably is. But if you want a rifle that's going to be reliable, comfortable and accurate right out the door, I think the Marlins, Savage and Remington deserve a close look.