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Marlin 39A and my first time shooting with a scope!

1983 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  deputy125
Okay. I started at 60 feet, 20 yards to make sure the bore sighting got it to the paper. I started with the top left, those strays low right were my first shots. A few turns on the scope and, as far as I can tell, it's sighted in! A better shooter might be able to make subtle improvements to the sighting, but I can't shoot any better than this right now. Top right was next, I figured I had it pretty tuned in (after 7 shots!). Bottom left was next, nice grouping there, I think I bumped it up and over just a hair and shot bottom right.

Then I backed it up to 50 yards. Man, even supporting the front of the gun on a bench, it is not easy keeping the thing still at that distance. The table I was using was on wheels and that was hard to keep still. But that center group at 50 yards, I'll take that for my first time out.



Then I had some fun with these targets my neighbor bought me (he also has a groundhog problem and we often joke about what weapons we will use to dispatch them). These are from 25 yards. The one on the left was on the bench. Two nice head shots that I couldn't even see through the scope, I thought I missed the paper. Pleasant surprise when I brought it in. The target on the right was standing up and shooting 25 yards. Much harder, and the rifle is much heavier, than I expected.

But it was a ton of fun and I can't wait to go back! I love these little groundhog targets.

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Looks like some great shooting to me! I'm glad the scope worked out for you. I thought you'd be happy with it. :mrgreen:
Good shooting Eddie!

Practice makes perfect even with a scope. Shooting freehand is tuff, and to be good at it takes alot of work. But with a .22 the ammo is cheap and the recoil is nill so it becomes fun to plink away.

Glad it's working out for you. You have a dandy set-up there that will out last you by a long time. :D
Thanks guys. I did have one question.

On a couple of occasions, the spent round didn't eject. But almost always, once I tipped the gun over to clear out the next round so I could cycle it again, once I cycled the lever more forcefully (like standing up holding the rifle rather than sitting with it resting on the bench support), the round ejected no problem.

I cleaned the gun as best I could before I shot it (it's hard for me to clean guns really well the first few times until I get to know them). Do you think this is just some new gun stiffness, some operator error (babying the lever from the awkward seated position), not lubricating it in the right spots, or a combination of the above? It did it more earlier than it did later, and I probably only shot 75 rounds.

I'm not concerned about it really, just wondering what you guys thought. When I stood up to shoot freehand, and really could work the lever the way it's supposed to be worked, the shell came out every time.
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Sounds like you weren't moving the lever far enough in the seated position. It has to be moved all the way and in one smooth move. Just like when a semi's slide doesn't come all the way back when someone limp wrists the gun. The extracter doesn't send the case out of the way. Kind of the same deal.
Look like you had fun, Eddie. +1 on what BH said about the action.....
yes sir, just work the lever briskly full stroke and it should give no problems. the more you shoot her, the smoother she'll get.
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