Is it likely (microgroove rifles)

[Bazoo]

I’ll touch on lever gun cleaning and accuracy, though not micro groove.

I get 1-1/2” at 70y with my Winchester 94 30-30 and cast bullets. I very rarely ever clean my gun. But the load i have shoots clean. It’s probably close to 2” @100y. But I haven’t shot it at that distance yet. Well, not on paper.

Target choice makes a lot of difference into he ability to see and shoot. For me, a plain cardboard backer and a bright green aiming point, a 6” square, does the best so far.

I also canned the factory rear sight and put a marbles semi buckhorn, then reversed the white diamond. A finer notch coupled with no color gives me the best accuracy. The color was distracting me. And the original rear sight had a too large a notch and caused me to have inconsistency.

 

[AJC1]

I’ll touch on lever gun cleaning and accuracy, though not micro groove.

I get 1-1/2” at 70y with my Winchester 94 30-30 and cast bullets. I very rarely ever clean my gun. But the load i have shoots clean. It’s probably close to 2” @100y. But I haven’t shot it at that distance yet. Well, not on paper.

Target choice makes a lot of difference into he ability to see and shoot. For me, a plain cardboard backer and a bright green aiming point, a 6” square, does the best so far.

I also canned the factory rear sight and put a marbles semi buckhorn, then reversed the white diamond. A finer notch coupled with no color gives me the best accuracy. The color was distracting me. And the original rear sight had a too large a notch and caused me to have inconsistency.

My desire to hit a ram at 100 far outweighs my desire to make pretty circles on paper. I went 10 for 12 shots my second time ever shouldering the rifle. Good enough for my needs.

 

[Hugger-4641]

All I can add to that thought is:
My Model 94 has been cleaned with aluminum cleaning rods and brass brushes since about 1983, it shoots 1moa consistently with the ammo it likes. I don't know the exact rd ct, but I would estimate somwhere between 2k and 4k.
If my cleaning methods were harmful to my barrel, I should have noticed by now. It shoots as good and I dare say even better now than it did the day I bought it.
Consequently, I really have trouble believing that brass brushes would hurt microgrove rifling but don't hurt my Winchester's rifling.
I'll admit, I'm not a barrel maker or cleaning expert, just a guy who's owned guns for about 45yrs now and cleaned them the same way I was taught since day one.

 

[Bcwitt]

My Marlin 880 (22, micro) will out shoot most centerfires.

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

When i clean my levers and pumps and semi-autos. I clean from the muzzle with carbon fiber rod. I open the action up. Turn the rifle upside down. That way i don't get solvents in it. As far as micro groves. Im happy with my marlins.

 

[ATCDoktor]

I’ve had this late model Marlin 336Y (last year Remington manufacturer) chambered in 30/30 for several years now.


It’s never had a cleaning rod inserted into its bore (pulled a bore snake thru it upon initial receipt) and it’s accuracy is fine (for a 16 inch 30/30) with jacketed, plated and lead bullets (sized .311).

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Marlin Microgroove in centerfire rifles is optimized for smokeless powder and jacketed bullets.
It is not oversized for standard size jacketed bullets.
It is oversized for standard size lead bullets.

 

[Charlie98]

Marlin Microgroove in centerfire rifles is optimized for smokeless powder and jacketed bullets.
It is not oversized for standard size jacketed bullets.
It is oversized for standard size lead bullets.

Lots of good feedback here... but this summarizes what I have found over the years... ^^^ Also, earlthegoat2's and Varmint's comments about rifling twist.

As far as jacketed bullets, there usually isn't a problem as long as the velocity is adequate. That is not to say the barrel can't be picky about bullet choice... I found that with my brother's .30-30 336, where a change from the 170grn Speer HotCor to the Winchester 170grn Silvertip cut my groups in half.

Cast bullets are no problem, either, as long as the bullets are sized for the bore... just like any barrel. I'm lucky with my .41 1894... standard .411" cast bullets work fine, but I understand there is some issues with .44 bore size, for example. In another .30-30 336, I had to go to .310" cast to get reasonable accuracy... but I also had to do the same thing with a .30-30 Savage 99 with traditional rifling, so, again, it boils down to bore size, not necessarily the rifling.

Bullet weight can affect stability... the previous comments about the 1:38" rifling apply here. My Marlin 1894 in .45 Colt was this way... it would not stabilize my standard pistol load of a 255grn cast bullet over 8grn Unique, nor would it stabilize some very nice 270grn bullets... at all. My .41 1894 has 1:20" (I believe...) and has no problem stabilizing any weight bullet I've ever run through it.

As far as .22 Microgroove rifles... I've not found them to be more or less accurate than any other .22 rifles I have, I think it boils down to the quality of the rimfire ammos more than the barrel rifling. The shooter may have something to do with it, too... given the typical mushy trigger on most .22 autoloaders. My first rifle was a single-shot Marlin 15... with a much better trigger than my model 60... it remains the most accurate .22 rifle in the fleet... with the right ammos.

Someone touched on cleaning. If pulling one screw out of the lever, and pulling the bolt and ejector out in 15 seconds to clean from the breech is too much... well, I hope things pick up for you. I am not a cleaning madman, and I don't obsess over it. I find Microgroove rifling to clean easier than traditionally rifled barrels, and particularly after shooting cast bullets. A little scrubby-scrubby, run a LeadOut patch through... and done. I don't know... maybe I'm missing something. As far as barrel fouling... I've run 700+ rounds through my .41MAG Marlin over a weekend, at a steel shoot, and this was on an already fouled bore... no problems with accuracy or fouling, and this with cheapo commercially cast bullets.

 

[joneb]

The Marlin Micro groove can be very accurate,https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...tqwywytyjqzns1hywfhywfhywfhyweifq-jpg.834901/
I have a Marlin 882 22 Mag that shoots sub moa @ 100 yrds. I have had four Marlins/Glenfield with Micro grooved barrels and I have been very happy with them. I do keep these barrels clean.

 

[GRIZ22]

I have a Marlin 30-30 with microgroove. I shoot cast bullets at about 1500 fps with acceptable accuracy. I find that after about 40-50 rounds accuracy starts to fall off. A quick scrub with a bore brush brings it back. I suppose I could experiment with bullet diameter and hardness to prevent this but I'm okay where I am. Rarely shoot more than 40-50 lead bullets and always clean after shooting.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

Recent Five shot sight check with my Marlin 336W and Winchester factory 170gr SuperX Powerpoint.


26 Mar 2000 sight check, three shots each at 50, 100, 150, 200 yds, keeping cross hairs centered on bull.

In between years I put a few hundred rounds through it in black powder cartridge matches using mostly Pyrodex RS. Always cleaned thoroughly ASAP day of BP match (twenty five rounds, seven matches per season), three days later, then seven days later.

I have never tried to see how dirty I could get my thirty-thirty.

My microgroove .22 Model 60 and Model 39 get cleaned at the end of the year but even in seasons when I plinked hundreds of rounds between barrel cleaning accuracy did not seem to be affected. And that often included cartons of bulk pack ammo bouncing golf balls from 10 to 55 yards and shooting at clay pigeons on the 55 yard berm.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Marlin Microgroove in centerfire rifles is optimized for smokeless powder and jacketed bullets.

Does quite well with black powder, optimized or not. !!! 80 grains of Swiss 3fg, 400 grain Speer JSP, and one inch at 100 yards. Groups #1&2 were sighters, #3 is the group.