Thread: Need some opinions on a couple of guns

I paid $550 for a unfired cz on tardme a year or so ago-so keep your eyes pealed and nice things come along,unfortunately it's normally because someone else is in a bind.

That said it's not really much better than the worked norinco jw15 that it replaced

Thanks a bunch for the helpful pointers and the trademe links too ! Really appreciate it a ton.

I'd go Marlin or older wooden stock Norinco. I do have both.

Norinco .22 | Trade Me

Might be barking up the wrong tree here but if you can only afford one rifle at the moment may pay to consider that you can't shoot your 22 on DOC land so you'll be legally limited to any private stuff you've jacked up.


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Yup, that's a valid point.

I have the Marlin XT, shooting with CCI standards and RWS ammo, for silhouettes target shooting out to 100m. Can hit a ram target (which is roughly the size of your hand out at 100m) consistently from the standing position, so the rifle is pretty good for the cost.

If you can pick up a CZ or similar for a similar price, go for it. But my experience with the XT is that it's a great rifle, will easily group well for rabbits, hares, possums, or general plinking with cheap CCI SV (@$55/500 rounds).

Very valid point Dougie. If you do have places lined up with heaps of little pests then the 22lr is the best by far. Cheap to run and very good for racking up heaps of trigger practice. If you have access to possums and pluck the fur you could use a 22lr as a tool to fund more gear.

Originally Posted by Dougie

Might be barking up the wrong tree here but if you can only afford one rifle at the moment may pay to consider that you can't shoot your 22 on DOC land so you'll be legally limited to any private stuff you've jacked up.


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Nope, I have been to the doc office and got a permit for shooting small game with a .22 rim fire at tepapanui rock and pillar hunting block.

Oh sweet, never heard of that. You're away then!


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I bought my rifle today too. Went to a new shop and fell in love with the Marlin 925. Felt much better than the marlin XT22. Hopefully I will be putting it to good use sometime this week.

Originally Posted by JessicaChen

I bought my rifle today too. Went to a new shop and fell in love with the Marlin 925. Felt much better than the marlin XT22. Hopefully I will be putting it to good use sometime this week.

Great choice. The 925's were the last of the Marlin made Marlin 22's (so i believe should say made in Conneticut on the barrel). Dont have the newer trigger but are better finished.

I have a 980s which is just the stainless version of the 925 and its a wee shooter, 1/2 inch at 50 easy with CCSV.

The triggers are creep free but pretty heavy as you will find out. Easy fix with a new trigger spring and a seer return spring shim. Mine went from about 8 lb's down to 3 1/2.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Great choice. The 925's were the last of the Marlin made Marlin 22's (so i believe should say made in Conneticut on the barrel). Dont have the newer trigger but are better finished.

I have a 980s which is just the stainless version of the 925 and its a wee shooter, 1/2 inch at 50 easy with CCSV.

The triggers are creep free but pretty heavy as you will find out. Easy fix with a new trigger spring and a seer return spring shim. Mine went from about 8 lb's down to 3 1/2.

+1

The trigger fix is a quick easy and cheap DIY job with a pen spring.

I think a gunsmith may be a better option for the average person when tinkering with triggers sears etc. I gave myself a bit of a shock years ago trying to be too clever , much better and not expensive, to take it to an expert imo

+1 Nick-D's comment on marlin 925.

Model 925 and 980 would be pick of recent marlin bolt actions. Sound wee rifles with very good barrels, they do the hunter job well. I had several 925s go thru the cupboard in recent years and they particularly impressed me in benchrest testing on the range. Well under 0.5" at best and one 925 dropped into the 0.3"s for 5 shot groups at 50m. Found they could comfortably outshoot more expensive makes. Good performance and reliability for the $$.

CCI subs, CCI standard velocity solids, CCI minmags and Winchester powerpoint all worth trying.

Originally Posted by C404

I think a gunsmith may be a better option for the average person when tinkering with triggers sears etc. I gave myself a bit of a shock years ago trying to be too clever , much better and not expensive, to take it to an expert imo

You dont actually tinker with the sear at all, All you do is put a 1.5 mil shim into the hole in the action where the sear return spring rests. You dont have to take the trigger group apart at all, just drop it away from the action. No danger of the safety not working as if you over shim it you wont be able to get the bolt in or out. so it gives you an easy indicator as to how much shim your trigger needs.

The return spring mod is an addon to the trigger spring which gets the majority of the lightening done and again is very easy to do. The trigger spring alone got me down to about 5 lbs and the sear return srping netted anoth 1 & 1/4 or so.

Any sear surface polishing or mods that will effect safety, then yeah I absolutely agree, take it to a gunsmith. But both the above mods are super easy to do and pretty hard to get wrong

Originally Posted by Nick-D

You dont actually tinker with the sear at all, All you do is put a 1.5 mil shim into the hole in the action where the sear return spring rests. You dont have to take the trigger group apart at all, just drop it away from the action. No danger of the safety not working as if you over shim it you wont be able to get the bolt in or out. so it gives you an easy indicator as to how much shim your trigger needs.

The return spring mod is an addon to the trigger spring which gets the majority of the lightening done and again is very easy to do. The trigger spring alone got me down to about 5 lbs and the sear return srping netted anoth 1 & 1/4 or so.

Any sear surface polishing or mods that will effect safety, then yeah I absolutely agree, take it to a gunsmith. But both the above mods are super easy to do and pretty hard to get wrong

With mine I just did the trigger return spring and that probably took it down from 6lb to 2lb. Didn't even bother with the sear spring. Did the old bang, thump, slap test to make sure it was all good afterwards.