Ruger 10/ 22 or Marlin 795- Accuracy, reliability? Cost difference justified?

[jbush]

I keep hearing about this shortage of Ruger 10/22s but both of the guns shops by me has them on sale. Maybe its a So Cal thing. One is a chain store with about 8 or 9 stores and the other is a LGS with 2 stores and both are running them on sale for 199 to 209 for the basic carbine. The chain has them for 209 until April 20th. Doesn't seem to be any shortage. They both have lots in stock. Walk in, tell them how many, pay the money, do the paperwork. This is the second time I've heard theres a shortage. Am I missing something or is it just NorCal.????

[norcalcook]

Sounds like a NorCal thing. I'm in Sonoma County and I've called around to every gun shop within 30 miles- none of them have a single Marlin 795. ? There are a few shops that have the Ruger 10/22 but are asking between $279-$299 for the base carbine (Big 5 wants $339 for the "tactical model," which is nothing more than a carbine with a "flash suppressor and a rail up top" no open sites... although I could be wrong).

Northern CA seems to be a pretty depressing place to buy guns right now. As a side note, a place in Petaluma had the 10/22 Takedown- one left, but the price was around $349 (so more than what I was looking to pay).

I'm keeping my eyes peeled for Big 5 sales, but haven't been seeing much coming through. Maybe I'll just need to practice a bit of patience.

And from what it sounds like -quality on the Ruger is better. OTB accuracy advantage might go to the Marlin?

[BomarFab]

Who had the TD for $349?

Markell's has good prices on most Ruger stuff, just not the TD right now. But he said he can get a few other models.

[norcalcook]

Wael at Independence. He said he sold 4 or 5 in a matter of a day and had one left.

[BomarFab]

Ahh, he told me $389. I probably would have done $349 though.

I have seen them online for $320 shipped, but then you pay transfer fee, etc and probably still pay the same amount.

[norcalcook]

I could have misheard him too- driving in the car with speaker phone on. Anyways, is there any other major difference with that take-down model (other than the quick take down feature)?

And I'm still on the hunt for a Ruger 10/22 for less than $250... Shops locally also say Marlins won't be available for 1-2 months. I can't believe an election would do this? Or maybe Doomsday Preppers has catapulted the popularity of the once neglected .22?

[stangmar]

I have a Marlin 795. I have never shot the Ruger 10/22 but I wish I bought that one instead.

It's much much much much easier to find magazines for them in California. Not to mention you can mount 3 of them together for easy and quick reloading. They are also much cheaper.

It's way more customizable. I never planned on customizing a 22, but the option itself is worth the extra bit of money.

[BomarFab]

I could have misheard him too- driving in the car with speaker phone on. Anyways, is there any other major difference with that take-down model (other than the quick take down feature)?

And I'm still on the hunt for a Ruger 10/22 for less than $250... Shops locally also say Marlins won't be available for 1-2 months. I can't believe an election would do this? Or maybe Doomsday Preppers has catapulted the popularity of the once neglected .22?

The Take Down is essentially the same as the Stainless Synthetic model, except it comes apart. And at the moment, you cannot get an aftermarket barrel or stock for it. You could however upgrade things like the sights, trigger, receiver, etc.

For what I want it for, this is fine with me. I will get a standard Ruger in the future to modify.

[Fellblade]

I just made this decision myself and went with the Ruger. Fortunately, Turners has them on sale and I was able to get it at $209.
For me, the deciding factor was partially nostalgia since when I was in scouts we had Rugers, but I also really like their rotary mag fitting fully within the rifle. Those two factors were worth the extra $50.

[jbush]

OP back to your original question, after discussing price differences between north and south California. I have shot both. I think the Marlin might be a little more accurate out of the box. I'd do a tube feed Model 60 over 795, but I'd still take the Ruger over both if you can get it for a realistic price (200-250). I just think the availability of extra mags, addon intems, upgrades, etc make the Ruger a better longterm pick. Also believe the resale on the Ruger would be better if you decided to sell it. Not everyone wants to customize a 10/22, but it's nice to know you can if you want. (ya, I'm one of those guys who dumped about $650 in upgrades to 1 of my 10/22s). I don't think you'll be unhappy either way, but 10/22 seems more versatile.

[rckjeep]

I'm in Nor-Cal too and have both. I have a modded Tactical 10/22 as well as a LTR 10/22. I've set up my 795 as an LTR as well. Out of the box the 795 is slightly more accurate but seems more like a toy as far as the action goes. It's more complicated than the 10/22 action. I did a homebrew trigger job on the 10/22 with all factory parts and it'll shot as good if not better than the 795 now. The options for the 10/22 are nice and so is the amount of info in the web about it. If you find a decent deal on a 10/22 grab it. Here's some local price info that I've found in the San Jose area.

10/22 at Big 5 $269
795 at Big 5 $179

I bought my 795 thru Gun Genie/Reeds and paid $215 after the $25 rebate. The 10/22 in the same LTR configuration is a 1980 model that was handed down to me.

[Steerme]

I went to buy the Marlin 795 and bought the Ruger for $209. I actually would have bought the Ruger take down rifle (for the purpose that I wanted a 22 semi-auto), but it became available 2 days after I put my 10/22 in jail.

Before you make a decision, go try removing the magazines of both. I liked the lower price of the Marlin. The Marlin felt fine in my hands. The Marlin is supposed to be more accurate out of the box between the two. The Marlin had sling stubs installed. The Marlin has an empty mag hold open. I had a very difficult time removing the magazine from the 795.

Good luck!

[Excaliburr]

Yeah, you So Cal people have all the big warehouse stores down there with buying power. Turners is a good example. Up here in the North it seems like everything is out of stock most of the time. As soon as they get it, someone is there with their plastic. The stock is running out down there too though but it is at the beginning stages. Once the warehouse stores sell all their inventory and cannot restock because their orders are not being filled, you will feel the pain. Give it another month. Ammo is tough up here too, which is why most of us have resorted to reloading. We do not have the big money all you folks down there have, so we stay up late at night making up ammo for the next shooting day.

[RazzB7]

I have the Marlin 795. It's a fun little plinker. I had one minor problem with it out of the box, first shooting session (about 40 rds in), broke the pin for the hammer spring. I went to the local hardware store and bought some music wire of the same diameter and replaced the pin, haven't had a problem with it since. (Marlin undoubtedly would have repaired it under warranty, I didn't feel like wasting the time on something I could easily and inexpensively fix myself) It's NOT a high quality rifle, it is manufactured to a price point for sure. It has some plastic where I would rather see metal. But it is definitely worth every penny that I paid for it.

I put the Nikon Prostaff Rimfire scope on it, so I have a $200 scope on a $120 rifle, but I'm ok with that.

One thing that was a must-have for me was the baby UpLula loader. The small rounds and metal lips on the magazines were taking some of the pleasure out of loading rounds for me.

I will probably get a 10/22 also. I like the concept of the takedown, so that may be in my near future.

[norcalcook]

10/22 TD jailed

Well, now that I've got a 10/22 TakeDown in jail for the next 10 days (more than what I was planning on spending, but couldn't resist- looks like a pretty quality gun)... Any recommendations for optics/ scopes? Ammo? Or any other interesting accessories that would be good for a basic survival/ plinker. Thanks again for all the feedback and info.