MacTech
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Back on my 16th birthday, Dad bought me my first rifle, a Marlin Model 25 7-shot bolt action with a Tasco 20mm 4X scope, it was the first gun that was really and truly *MINE*, that gun and I spent many long lazy summers together, popping cans and plastic bottles off my backyard range (15 yards or so)
I quickly discovered that the little Tasco scope wasn't worth crap, and actually made shooting more frustrating due to the "winking" issue and generally poor optical resolution, so I removed it and shot with the iron sights
Fast forward to college, the little Marlin lived in the campus security lockup (yes, we could keep guns on campus, but thanks to the frakkin larval treehuggers and antis, they had to be kept in a secure lockup(, but I could take it out whenever I want and go shooting in one of the many gravel pits that were close by
My friends were quite jealous that I had my own rifle on campus, they had to sign out the school's guns and most of the time they were signed out already, let's just say my little 25 saw a *lot* of rounds, and it was the source of one of my favourite stories about one of my closest friends there....
Her name was Daniela, she was in the Army Reserves, and yes, she was a *blonde* in the truest sense of the word, oh the stories I could tell of her speaking before she had time to think, the amusing stories abounded, but most were not rimfire related, this one was...
we were off at the gravel pit, plinking some plastic bottles (yes, we did pack them out when we were done...), Daniela had not shot a bolt action .22 before, but she *was* familiar with loading the magazine (or so she thought)
"You load it just like the M-16, it's easy" she said, grabbing the mag and a handful of .22LR cartridges
She slid the first cart in, base against the back of the mag...
and then tried to put the next cart in *BULLET* facing the back of the mag (yes, she was trying to put it in *backwards!) and was getting quite flustered and discouraged that it wouldn't fit in....
Daniela, you're putting that cartridge in backwards...
"no I'm not, they go in like this, one facing out, one facing in, just like my M-16"
Daniela, I'm not in the military, I have no hands on experience with the M-16, unless the M-16 has a *rotary* bolt that takes the backwards cartridge out of the mag, *FLIPS IT 180 DEGREES* and inserts it into the chamber, I can *guarantee* you that it's not loaded the way you're trying to do it, just put the rest of the cartridges in the same direction...
"are you sure, I'm sure the 16 is loaded the way I'm doing it...."
yes, I'm sure, just trust me, I've had this gun since I was 16, I know how to properly load it's mag...
after she succesfully shot all 7 cartridges, she said
"okay, maybe my M-16 *is* loaded the way you did it after all..."
(this is the same person who when she first shouldered her 16 for the first time in basic, had the fire selector set to "Auto", yes, her first pull of the trigger loosed a FA burst, her DI was none too pleased...)
Anyway...
a few years later, I was living in Vermont, I had gotten into the "Bigger Is Better, .22's are for wimps" mindset and was spending more time with my .357 Magnum revolver and 12-gauge pump shotgun, the same college friends had gotten into paintball, I wanted to join them, so I stupidly *SOLD* my beloved 25 so I could get some paintball gear, which I very quickly got bored with (as did my friends), I wasn't shooting the 25 enough to miss it, but after I got bored with paintball (anyone wanna' buy some old paintball hardware, cheap ), I really found I missed that old 25, I went back to the gun/paintball shop, but, sadly, she was gone
There's been a gaping hole in my collection ever since, I should have never sold my first gun, thankfully Dad didn't seem to care either way, nor does he now (thankfully he's still around...), so I made a promise to myself, that if I ever encountered another Marlin 25 in my gunstore prowls, I would get it without hesitation, it may not be the actual gun Dad bought me, but it would be the same model
So, what should I spy tonight, but a Marlin 25, an actual 25, not a 925 or 25M, or any other 25 variant but an actual 25, capable of handling S, L, and LR cartridges and the MicroGroove rifling, it's in *great* shape, aside from a couple bare spots on the barrel, easily fixed by cold blue, and a bit of bluing wear on the bolt handle (easily fixed as well) it looks practically new, it even has a Tasco scope on it, however this one is a 4x32 Japanese made model, a tad sharper than the old dim, foggy, crappy 20mm that my original 25 came with
No, the trigger's not the greatest, in fact, compared to the AccuTrigger on my Savage Mark II-G, the 25's trigger is horribly heavy, it does have a crisp break though, I'm gonna do the pen spring trick to drop the pull weight, the stock's got a nice grain to it and a subtle "tiger-stripey" effect, it actually looks quite nice for a (most likely) beech stock, the rifling is pristine, I don't think this gun had been fired too much
Welcome home, Marlin 25, it's been a few years, but I'm glad to see you home again, and don't worry, you will never stray from my ownership again, you have a permanent home with me
now... do I give the Tasco a chance, or go back to irons, just the way I used to shoot my original 25?
(and no, this gun purchase does not negate my "I'm satisfied with my collection" thread, I was simply replacing a gun that never should have left the collection in the first place, a gun that I sold in a moment of stupidity and have regretted selling since, I'm fixing a transgression I made against myself)
I quickly discovered that the little Tasco scope wasn't worth crap, and actually made shooting more frustrating due to the "winking" issue and generally poor optical resolution, so I removed it and shot with the iron sights
Fast forward to college, the little Marlin lived in the campus security lockup (yes, we could keep guns on campus, but thanks to the frakkin larval treehuggers and antis, they had to be kept in a secure lockup(, but I could take it out whenever I want and go shooting in one of the many gravel pits that were close by
My friends were quite jealous that I had my own rifle on campus, they had to sign out the school's guns and most of the time they were signed out already, let's just say my little 25 saw a *lot* of rounds, and it was the source of one of my favourite stories about one of my closest friends there....
Her name was Daniela, she was in the Army Reserves, and yes, she was a *blonde* in the truest sense of the word, oh the stories I could tell of her speaking before she had time to think, the amusing stories abounded, but most were not rimfire related, this one was...
we were off at the gravel pit, plinking some plastic bottles (yes, we did pack them out when we were done...), Daniela had not shot a bolt action .22 before, but she *was* familiar with loading the magazine (or so she thought)
"You load it just like the M-16, it's easy" she said, grabbing the mag and a handful of .22LR cartridges
She slid the first cart in, base against the back of the mag...
and then tried to put the next cart in *BULLET* facing the back of the mag (yes, she was trying to put it in *backwards!) and was getting quite flustered and discouraged that it wouldn't fit in....
Daniela, you're putting that cartridge in backwards...
"no I'm not, they go in like this, one facing out, one facing in, just like my M-16"
Daniela, I'm not in the military, I have no hands on experience with the M-16, unless the M-16 has a *rotary* bolt that takes the backwards cartridge out of the mag, *FLIPS IT 180 DEGREES* and inserts it into the chamber, I can *guarantee* you that it's not loaded the way you're trying to do it, just put the rest of the cartridges in the same direction...
"are you sure, I'm sure the 16 is loaded the way I'm doing it...."
yes, I'm sure, just trust me, I've had this gun since I was 16, I know how to properly load it's mag...
after she succesfully shot all 7 cartridges, she said
"okay, maybe my M-16 *is* loaded the way you did it after all..."
(this is the same person who when she first shouldered her 16 for the first time in basic, had the fire selector set to "Auto", yes, her first pull of the trigger loosed a FA burst, her DI was none too pleased...)
Anyway...
a few years later, I was living in Vermont, I had gotten into the "Bigger Is Better, .22's are for wimps" mindset and was spending more time with my .357 Magnum revolver and 12-gauge pump shotgun, the same college friends had gotten into paintball, I wanted to join them, so I stupidly *SOLD* my beloved 25 so I could get some paintball gear, which I very quickly got bored with (as did my friends), I wasn't shooting the 25 enough to miss it, but after I got bored with paintball (anyone wanna' buy some old paintball hardware, cheap ), I really found I missed that old 25, I went back to the gun/paintball shop, but, sadly, she was gone
There's been a gaping hole in my collection ever since, I should have never sold my first gun, thankfully Dad didn't seem to care either way, nor does he now (thankfully he's still around...), so I made a promise to myself, that if I ever encountered another Marlin 25 in my gunstore prowls, I would get it without hesitation, it may not be the actual gun Dad bought me, but it would be the same model
So, what should I spy tonight, but a Marlin 25, an actual 25, not a 925 or 25M, or any other 25 variant but an actual 25, capable of handling S, L, and LR cartridges and the MicroGroove rifling, it's in *great* shape, aside from a couple bare spots on the barrel, easily fixed by cold blue, and a bit of bluing wear on the bolt handle (easily fixed as well) it looks practically new, it even has a Tasco scope on it, however this one is a 4x32 Japanese made model, a tad sharper than the old dim, foggy, crappy 20mm that my original 25 came with
No, the trigger's not the greatest, in fact, compared to the AccuTrigger on my Savage Mark II-G, the 25's trigger is horribly heavy, it does have a crisp break though, I'm gonna do the pen spring trick to drop the pull weight, the stock's got a nice grain to it and a subtle "tiger-stripey" effect, it actually looks quite nice for a (most likely) beech stock, the rifling is pristine, I don't think this gun had been fired too much
Welcome home, Marlin 25, it's been a few years, but I'm glad to see you home again, and don't worry, you will never stray from my ownership again, you have a permanent home with me
now... do I give the Tasco a chance, or go back to irons, just the way I used to shoot my original 25?
(and no, this gun purchase does not negate my "I'm satisfied with my collection" thread, I was simply replacing a gun that never should have left the collection in the first place, a gun that I sold in a moment of stupidity and have regretted selling since, I'm fixing a transgression I made against myself)
