Marlin 917V accuracy

[z28kid]

I have a 917V that I bought almost 5 years ago and I haven't shot it a whole lot. Partly because ammo is higher and because it never shot great. I was wondering what I can do to get it shooting better.
As of now at 50 yards it averages about 1.3" 5 shot groups...in my opinion it should do that at 100 yards.

I hate to dump more money in it if it will never shoot that good. I thought about just buying a Savage Mark II heavy barrel instead of messing with the 917 because I can shoot it cheaper and most claim to have better accuracy.

In your opinion should I buy a Tacticool stock, bed it, and put a trigger on it or just get a Savage to use as my trainer?
On a side note, I like how with a .22 you can hear your hits on steel where I cant with my HMR.

 

[heydogman]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

It should shoot much better than that.What ammo have you tried?

 

[cmh2007]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Mine shoots .75moa to 100 yards. on a calm day at 200 it will hold that too

 

[In2b8u]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I would start with a decent trigger. See what that gets you. the stock trigger on the marlin rimfire is deplorable.

 

[cmh2007]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I will second the thing about the trigger...its truly awful

 

[FALex]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I have the 917 in a thumbhole, trigger was polished, it shoots very well. Damn fun rifle to shoot squirrels with too!

 

[300winman]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

May be something as simple as over or under tightened action screws. I know the bolt will bind if the furthest rear screw is too tight. Savage makes a good gun, but you already have a gun so perhaps a barrel chop with recrown and a decent tigger are in order. I have seen that platform shoot quite well with minimal mods.

 

[Martin55]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

What ammo have you tried?

 

[cmh2007]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

mine likes the federal 20gr ballistic tip, followed by the cci 20gr hollowpoint

 

[z28kid]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I have tried Hornady Vmax, Winchester Vmax, CCI Vmax, CCI FMJ, and CCI HP. I may save for a trigger, and boyds tacticool stock and bed it. Better cheek weld should help some to I guess.

Anyone had any experience with this:
http://www.aquilafirearms.com/CustomRiflePackages/Marlin_917.htm

 

[LongHogger]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I was just curious, what scope/ring/bases you have on the rifle. the scope may have a problem inside of it, or a screw may be loose holding your bases/rings on the action of the rifle. If i remember correctly, my 917V marlin digested the 17GR. hornady made ammo with the Vmax bullet the best, giving me .5" 5 shot groups at 50 yards, even with a bad scope on it. but the trigger replacement might not be a bad thing to consider for it.

 

[chemist1]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I have a 917V that is very accurate (.5-.75 moa at 100). However, I had to free float the barrel to get that. On mine when the barrel touches the stock the accuracy goes to hell (1.5 moa or worse). I also have a 925 22lr that shoots much better now that I bedded it.

I would try free floating the barrel followed by a trigger job and I bet it will shoot much better.

 

[Rifleman1]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Your rifle has the potential for much better accuracy, and you might not have to spend a lot of money to get it there. Check stock barrel clearance, check the stock mounting screws, and get a descent trigger. What kind of scope are you using?

 

[ROGER4314]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I have four of those rifles and they all shoot great! We compete at 200 yards with ours in NRA High Power rifle matches. My match rifle has a Rifle Basix trigger and a BSA scope. It gave me a 499/500 and a perfect 500/500 score from prone with a bipod at 200.

In the 200 yard target, the "X" ring is the size of a golf ball. In different matches, I hit the "X" 23 and 28 times out of 56 rounds! The rifle is a winner!

We had a copper fouling problem with ours and I suspect that is what is causing your inaccuracy. You can't scrub out copper. Chemicals remove it from the bore.

Get a GOOD cleaning rod and some quality jags and brushes. WW stuff just won't get it. I spent over $50 on cleaning gear alone but it will pay off.

Take Butch's Bore Shine or Hoppes #9 on a wet patch, soak the bore and leave it for an hour or two. Butches works better but I hate the smell. I love the smell of Hoppes! Give it a swab with a brush soaked in solvent and another wet patch. Let it sit again. Keep doing that until you get no green color on your patches.

A word of caution......two of our rifles had heavy copper fouling and took THREE DAYS of cleaning like I described above to remove it!

After the barrel gets "broken" in, the need to do that extensive cleaning is virtually gone. When new, two of our bores fouled a lot and we had to clean them completely. Two were trouble free and only required minimal cleaning. I suspect that yours is fouled badly. Some of our rifles have way over 1000 rounds down the tube.

Again, do NOT scrub the bore. It simply won't remove copper fouling. When using Butchs Bore Shine, it removes every trace of oil and the barrel will rust. I finish with a patch of Hoppes to preserve the bore.

Good luck!

Flash

 

[z28kid]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Thanks, Im in the process for building a stock for a .22 and if it works out well it will be copied for the Marlin.
After the new stock and bedding(and checking for copper fouling) hopefully she will be a tack driver.

Does anyone have a recommended torque for the action screws?

Thanks, TJ

 

[chemist1]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Sorry doubled up

 

[copterdrvr]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: z28kid</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Does anyone have a recommended torque for the action screws? Thanks, TJ </div></div>

Bueller-anybody? I've searched and searched and I can't find any info. I installed a new Boyd's Tacticool stock and I can see three points of contact between the action and the stock.

One is a very short section at the rear-most part of the receiver, the second is the pad that the rear receiver bolt passes through and the third is the front pad that the first inch or so of the barrel rests on.

 

[NewsShooter]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

I have shot half inch groups with mine at 100 yds.

 

[jdulaney]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Mine is completely stock, shooting 17 gr vmax, and can cover 3 shot group with a quarter at a 100 yards. I am very pleased with this gun

 

[SmallBoreSnipers]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Mine will stay inside 1" all day long. However, you will need an aftermarket trigger. The stock one is way too heavy.

 

[copterdrvr]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Well, I went to the source and called Marlin about the torque specs. Talked to a very nice guy who said snug them both up evenly and together until they are at 35 inchpounds.

Can't wait to shoot my new 917 with the Tacticool stock now-I'll bet I didn't have even HALF that much torque on the screws when I shot it for the first time.

 

[SmallBoreSnipers]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

^ With the tacticool I had to torque the screws pretty hard and also sand out the barrel channel a little. VERY much worth it though.

 

[aaronfor10]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

does anyone know who works on these? I've had one for about eight years and I wanna 'revamp' it a bit. I know about aguila firearms in TX but I didn't like the reviews I found online.

 

[mrbooks10]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

my xt-17 will shoot a 5 shot group at 50 yards you could cover with a dime. Mines a little newer version than yours but mine loves the hornady 20 gr ntx.

 

[mojack448]

Re: Marlin 917V accuracy

Hey smallbore sniper how hard was it to do the tactical bolt knob?