Savage VS Marlin XL7

[durango]

I'm not sure that this question is completely proper for this site, but I'd like the answers to come from those who like the barrel nut system. I'm not looking for a replacement for my or your Savages--just a curious question.

Has anyone heard any feedback regarding the Marlin XL7 regarding comparision to the Savage as far as accuracy, or ease of barrel change, or any thing at all? Thanks, Steve

[oidad]

My father-in-law bought a Marlin last year in .270; he returned it to the factory a month or so ago, he never could get it to shoot consistently.

He knows his way around rifles- but this was just one rifle.

[sinman]

one of these days im going to buy one and swap barrels on it, they keep tempting me at the gun store.

[pa hog]

I had one in 30-06 awhile back and it was a great rifle!! Heads above a Stevens200 for the same money, Slicker action,better stock, better trigger and shot just as well..I'd still buy one over a Stevens if I could resist swapping barrels and leaving something alone..
I also think they feed and eject more reliable than a Savage/Stevens as well.

[1Shot]

I had one in 30-06 awhile back and it was a great rifle!! Heads above a Stevens200 for the same money, Slicker action,better stock, better trigger and shot just as well..I'd still buy one over a Stevens if I could resist swapping barrels and leaving something alone..
I also think they feed and eject more reliable than a Savage/Stevens as well.


..+1.. ;D..Plus they're stagger feed...Picked 1 up in .243 & I'm impressed with it so far...Stacks 80gr. factory Rem cor-lok's on top of each other...Cock's easy & the bolt moves smooth...If I had the time to do the load work before deer season it would be a nail driver.. ;)...

[pa hog]

I've been gone so long I forgot how much I like 1Shot's Avatar's ;D!!!

[ctrout]

I smell what you're steppin' in! Of my 21 days, 16 hours, and 2 minutes on this site, I've probably spent at least a day of it hypnotized by that avatar.

[pa hog]

24Days, 8hours, 15minutes,yep I got at least a day invested myself.. ;D

[durango]

HEY!!! Her name ain't Marlin~!!!

[RandyWakeman]

The Marlin is “pillar-bedded” as in the traditional Savage. Where we would expect the Marlin’s barrel to be floated right out of the box, it wasn’t. The XL7’s barrel had heavy contact with the wood on the left side, firmly riding the left rail of the inletting. The satin-finish walnut stock was, as you might imagine, fairly plain. While we expected a metal trigger guard in a slightly upgraded XL7, we found plastic.

The Marlin’s “Pro-Fire” trigger also pays a bit of tribute to Savage Arms. With a flap in the center, it may look like an Accu-Trigger but is more related to the Glock treatment. If an Accu-Trigger is pulled without pulling on the trigger’s center properly, the Accu-Trigger decocks without firing. Marlin’s “Pro-Fire” Trigger is frozen until its center flap is pulled flush; it will not harmlessly decock. It exhibited a small amount of creep, but not much, breaking at 3-1/2 lbs. out of the box. It is a good hunting trigger, actually quite a bet better as supplied than recently tested Remington and Ruger bolt-action triggers out of the box. It isn’t as crisp as Savage’s Accu-Trigger, but nevertheless we feel most hunters will be quite happy with it.

The bolt handle knob of the XL7 is noticeably smaller than that found on the more substantial Savage bolt. Whether that is significant is largely up to the individual. We feel the Savage’s bolt is easier to operate with gloved hands.

The Marlin’s fluted bolt is not as attractive to our eyes as the Savage’s jeweled bolt. Despite that, we felt that the fluting did reduce some drag as claimed by Marlin, making it a tad smoother than the jeweled bolt of the Savage—though the Savage bolt is hardly difficult or rough by comparison. That is working the bolts with no ammunition. When actually loading, extracting, and ejecting brass—the Savage action proved to be a bit smoother.

The bolt on the Marlin does not lock closed, though, as the Savage bolt does (with Savage’s three position safety). The Marlin bolt can be snagged open when navigating through heavy cover, while the Savage’s bolt is locked closed. Further, the Marlin’s two-position safety is noisy compared to the whisper-quiet operation of the Savage safety. Both of these Marlin qualities are negatives, in our view.

At the range, we noticed that the Marlin XL7’s ejection was adequate, but weak compared to the Savage. The spent brass softly dribbled out and dropped beside the action. We had no failures to eject at the bench, but were less that totally confident with the soft, anemic way that this XL7 ejects spent brass.

We compared the Marlin’s “Soft-Touch” recoil pad to the Savage’s “P.A.D.” recoil pad at the range, alternating rifles between shots using the same ammo. We agree that the Marlin pad is a “real” recoil pad, certainly more effective than rubber buttplates and most generic pads. It did not compare well to the Savage P.A.D recoil pad, though. Our shooters unanimously found the Savage to be far more comfortable to shoot than the Marlin, with less muzzle jump and a noticeably softer recoil pulse. A half box of the Winchester 180 grain XP3 ammo left our shoulders stinging and going numb from the Marlin; not so with the Savage 111.

The Marlin XL7 wasn’t particularly wonderful at anything, but it wasn’t horribly bad at anything, either. It has a better than average price-point, a better than average trigger, and a better than average recoil pad. The rest of the rifle fared average in performance, or below average. It was less than average in the accuracy department, and it suffered by comparison with the Savage 111FCNS with the noisy safety and floppy bolt being particular areas we didn’t like, it all coalesced together to form a slightly below average .30-06 Springfield bolt-action. Despite the couple of promising spots (trigger and recoil pad) it is an immensely forgettable rifle.

[pa hog]

Mine was'nt free floated from the box it actually had a pressure pad in the forearm, I remove and accuracy was better without. Mine ejected shells to the next bench with ease and the action was way smoother than my Stevens 200 to which this rifle was priced to compare with. I prefered the Marlin pad to the Savage because it did'nt feel like it would peeel off if caught on something, and still reduced felt recoil better than my Stevens hard rubber pad. The trigger on my gun was creep free and Broke like glass. Still in my mind way better than a Stevens for the money. Not as attractive as a Bigger dollar Savage but for a deer rifle your not gonna rip apart and tinker with it's a steal.

[1Shot]

HEY!!! Her name ain't Marlin~!!!


...LOL..No, but she operates alot smoother than that Stevens 200.. ;).. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v692/sqek/8230f.gif

[scratcherky]

I think for the Stevens to remain competitive with the Marlin, Savage will have to incorporate the accutrigger or detachable box magazines. Already the Marlin action is much smoother unless you have SSS time & true the Stevens action. JMO!

[DannoBoone]

Hey, my wife used to tantalize me the same way, but that was many, many moons ago (or even
many blue moons ago)!

""The Marlin is “pillar-bedded” as in the traditional Savage. Where we would expect the Marlin’s barrel to be floated right out of the box, it wasn’t. The XL7’s barrel had heavy contact with the wood on the left side, firmly riding the left rail of the inletting.""

A Savage with a less than perfect stock can get out from QC, also. It was no big deal for me, since I was going to
bed it anyway. A 112 VLP in .25-06 I got from Jim Briggs last winter had a stock in which the inletting was too high
on one side of the receiver, causing the tang to be off center. Just a small amount of dremel work took care of
the problem. (Have photos if anyone needs more clarification.)

[diriel]

A friend of mine got an XL7 in 25-06 recently. I may have to cruise out his way and do some shooting. Would be fun to directly compare my savage to his Marlin.

Good shooting

[Carvera]

A question to Mr. RandyWakeman,

Are those your words, or did you post that from some magazine?

[TOO Builder]

A good friend purchased a Marlin .270 this fall for deer hunting. He stopped over to use my shooting bench to sight it in so I did get to put a few rounds through it. I also thought the action felt nice and smooth however this one did have some pretty good creep to the trigger. Nothing wonderful about accuracy, right at 1 3/4"-2", but only hady factory stuff to work with.

[Lost River]

That avatar is going to make me go crosseyed!

What was this conversation about?

[1Shot]

A good friend purchased a Marlin .270 this fall for deer hunting. He stopped over to use my shooting bench to sight it in so I did get to put a few rounds through it. I also thought the action felt nice and smooth however this one did have some pretty good creep to the trigger. Nothing wonderful about accuracy, right at 1 3/4"-2", but only hady factory stuff to work with.


...Like any other factory fodder...He'll have to find what it likes...Tell him to stay with 130's that's what most people I know use... 8)

[1Shot]

..Anybody pull a bbl. & see what dia. the thread size is..???..Plus the pitch

...Now I'm getting crosseyed...lol..