Marlin 780 at the range, sighting in, getting ready

I hied myself to the range today. Goal: Sight in the Marlin 780 again and practice trigger control in preparation for testing ammunition in this rifle.

I set up two targets at fifty yards. One a simple sheet covered with one inch orange dots, the other a prototype target designed for the ammo testing. I wished to see if the target design was conducive to good shooting with the cheap little 4x scope on this rifle.

Sometime between last week and this, Gremlins manifested themselves inside the twenty year old Simmons deerfield scope mounted on this rifle and worked their evil magic. The photo here is not a trick of the camera... that is what the image looked like in the scope.

Ugh.






Having set up, I gave it a try anyway. While the scope had a ringed blur around the outside, the center was clear and I could aim satisfactorily.

The results made two things apparent. Yes, there is a marked difference in this rifles preference of .22 ammunition, and also I had to replace the optics before doing much more.

The upper target is cheap Remington ammo sold by the brick. I bought some when it was $9.95 for 500, and it's Ok for plinking and non-serious target practice.





















Next, decent quality CCI Green tag target ammunition.
This stuff is regularly used in low level competition and is a good
bench mark to judge other .22 ammunition by.

The Marlin shot it well, and it was consistent. The group shown
here is a better one, but the others were not much worse.


















To get good bench results from this light rifle, I employed an old trick I have used for many years. Rather than wrap my trigger hand around the rifle, transmitting all sorts of nasty vibration to the rifle, I only used it to squeeze the trigger and trigger guard together between two fingers. Try this sometime on the bench, if you can.

The off hand is squeezing a sandbag under the butt for elevation control.



















While all this was fun, there is no way around the fact I needed a new optical sight. That being the case, I packed up my gear and made the half hour drive to my favorite little gun shop. I knew they had a case full of scopes, and a whole shelf full of used ones.

Trout Run Sporting Goods did not let me down, and I had my pick of many. Being a bit.... frugal.... yeh, thats it..... frugal.... I settled on a $20 Tasco World Class 3x9x40. The nest step up was a $75 BSA that had higher magnification but wasn't as clear.

Having plenty of daylight left, I headed back to the range. There I swapped on the new scope and started all over again. Yes, my range bag does include a gunsmith screwdriver set and loc-tite. Doesn't yours?

Brand new/used scope mounted and adjusted, I settled down to getting it sighted in. Each adjustment took about ten shots to set the crosshairs in a stable position; not uncommon with a cheap scope. I usually give them a sharp but gentle tap with the screwdriver handle after making the adjustment.

While I was picking up the scope I also bought a few more types of .22 rim fire ammunition to test. That expands the field to 16 different and distinct cartridges to look at.

One of the boxes I picked up today is a cheaper brand, sometimes found bulk packed. Why this is significant.... the Marlin gobbled it up and spit it into tighter groups than anything else I have tried in it so far.

What brand? Nope... for that you must wait for the testing.




Here is the result of the modification I made to the muzzle. Re-cutting the crown left a beautiful 11 degree target angle to it, and now it makes a perfect star pattern of residue after firing. The rifling leaves it's distinctive marking on the muzzle as the bullet passes cleanly from the bore. If there were any gaps or smudges, it would mean the bullet does not have a smooth exit from the barrel.

More shooting, more results, more fun will come in the near future. I'll print up some targets and warm the chronograph, and perhaps next week the testing will get done for real. Till then.... Keep your powder dry!