Texas Game and Fish, Volume 13, Number 4, April 1955 Page: 22
32 p. : col. ill.View a full description of this periodical.
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GUNS
S HOO T I NGThe New Marlin 322
Every now and then a new gun
or gun accessory makes its appear-
ance. I usually look over the new
stuff as it comes from the manufac-
turers, and try to weed out the really
good stuff for notation in this space.
Usually I let "Shnoting Shorts"
serve as the clearing house for these
products. Recently, however, I have
had occasion to examine and shoot
Marlin's new Model 322 varmint
rifle chambered for the Remington
.222 cartridge, and I have been so
impressed that I have decided to de-
vote the whole column to it this
month.
Physically, the 322 is a neat little
gun. Its overall length is 42 inches.
Its weight is about 71/2 pounds,
which is surprising since its 24-inch
barrel is definitely on the heavy side.
Marlin calls it medium weight, but
it's about what a barrel maker
would call heavy sporter.
The stock is American walnut,
and is fitted with a hard rubber butt
plate and grip cap. It is very taste-
fully hand checkered at the pistol
Shootin' Shorts
Bateman's Sporting Goods here
in San Angelo now has Weatherby
rifles and ammunition for sale. The
ammo is in Weatherby brass, made,
I believe, by Norma. Leonard tells
me that he can also supply brass for
Weatherby calibers.
I have one of tre new Leupold
Westerner 8X varmint scopes which
I am going to try out and report on
later. It's a pretty thing, and if it is
typical Leupold quality, should be
a little gem. More later.grip and on the forearm. It is fitted
with sling swivels.
The heart of the little rifle is the
Finnish made Sako Mauser action.
This action is very well made, and
is fitted together with watchmaker
precision. Scope blocks are integral,
as can be seen in the accompanying
illustration. The action is clip fed,
with a magazine capacity of three
rounds. The clip release is in the
front of the trigger guard. The gun
can be loaded single shot very read-
ily, since the extractor will go over
a round already in the chamber.
The trigger is fully adjustable,
and can be made just about as slick
as any trigger I ever saw. It is sim-
ilar in construction to the Model 70
Winchester trigger, but I believe it
is a bit smoother.
The safety rocks back and forth
much in the order of an Enfield.
There is a little firing indicator in-
tegral with the safety.
As it comes from the factory, the
rifle is fitted with a hooded ramp
front sight with a gold bead, and a
slick little peep sight that fits on the
back scope block.
This little peep sight is fully ad-
justable for windage and elevation
and has the novel feature of an ec-
centric aperture with permit rotat-
ing the sight from a 100 to a 200V
By JOHN A. MASTERS
yard position. This is a handy little
feature, and seems to work out fine
in practice.
The rifle features Marlin's Micro-
groove rifling. This is a new thing
in a way, and old in another way. It
has been done before, but Marlin
has a new look to it that seems to
be working out splendidly.
Briefly, the system consists of six-
teen shallow lands and grooves, with
a bore diameter slightly larger than
standard. The idea is to cause as
little bullet deformation as possible,
and at the same time give a better
gastight seal. It seems to do both.
My rifle has consistently grouped
under one inch. It has done so with
both factory loads and all sorts of
handloads. I believe it is the only
run of the mill factory rifle I ever
shot that has done so.
My friend Harold Harton, stock
maker of Lampasas, Texas, has re-
ported some rather revealing figures.
His Model 322 gave him the follow-
ing: With 20.5 gr. 4198, and a 55
grain Hornaday-.255 inch at 100
yards. With 20.5 gr. 4064, and a 55
grain Hornaday-.490 inch at 100
yards. With 25 gr. Hogdon Ball and
a 55 grain Hornaday-.497 inch at
100 yards.
These are excellent five shot4
, J .
TEXAS GAME AND FISH
Marlin Model 322 with Stith dovetail mount.
22
Y` jilts
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Texas. Game and Fish Commission. Texas Game and Fish, Volume 13, Number 4, April 1955, periodical, April 1955; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1588361/m1/24/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.