Bolt-action 22 rifles are among the most basic and useful of all firearms. They are fine trainers and excellent tools for a variety of uses limited only by the imagination of the owner. We’ve seen ‘em used for just about anything, and about the only constant is that decent 22 bolt rifles generally have long and useful lives.
Gun Tests Magazine looked at a Marlin Model 980S, $298. The Marlin took only 22LR. It had iron sights and a detachable magazine. It was grooved for “tip-off” mounts and had a black synthetic stock and stainless barrel and action. It was adult size, with good weight and reasonable dimensions. They tested it with CCI Velocitor HP, Federal Classic round-nose, Eley Match EPS, and Remington Yellow Jacket HPs.
Here’s what they found.
The street price of this little rifle is about $250, averaging three sources. The Marlin’s black synthetic stock had excellent checkering, and the stainless metal had a finish that would shame many costlier rifles. The trigger guard was synthetic, and seemed to be very sturdy. The only thing we didn’t like about this rifle’s looks was that the magazine hung down like an afterthought. We found it took two hands to remove the magazine, which we considered to be a safety feature.
The next thing that caught our eye was the bright-orange front-sight insert. This, we found, stood out well against nearly any background. We wished for a good aperture rear sight to use with it, but one is not offered. Instead the rear sight was the old “buckhorn” type with stepped wedge for elevation adjustments against the spring of the sight leaf itself. A button on the wedge made this an easy process. Windage was by drifting either the rear or front elements.
The stock had a molded-in buttplate that was integral with the stock. This gave a clean, uncluttered look that we liked. In fact, the overall look and feel of this rifle was that of a full-size big-game rifle. The trigger pull was stiff but clean on the break. The Marlin had clearly marked Safe and Fire positions to the rocking lever at the right rear corner of the action. Bolt removal was by pressing the trigger. Extraction was by two opposing sprung fingers.
The magazine required some dexterity to load. This one held seven rounds. The magazine fit solidly and securely into the rifle. The rifle fed all rounds well and ejected them quite forcefully.
We tried the rifle with its iron sights at 50 yards. To make the test fair we installed a 12X Leupold in tip-off rings, using the grooves in the Marlin’s receiver. This helped things, but didn’t make this into a tackdriver by any means. Best groups were with Federal Classic, at 0.9 inch on average. There were no failures to feed, fire, or eject.
All in all we liked this rifle, but if we owned it we’d do a trigger job and then go looking for the load that gave best accuracy. In our experience bolt-action 22 rifles have distinct preferences in that line. We could be quite happy with this Marlin as our only 22 rimfire rifle. It can do it all, and won’t rust in the process.
