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Rifle review-Marlin X7VH TAC .308

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sparky0068:

Marlin X7VH TAC .308

With long range shooting becoming more mainstream, everyone seems to want in the game.  If you have checked lately the start up cost of a medium to long range rifle setup can get quite expensive, and there are a lot of folks who cant swing four figures for a perfect setup.  Thus enter the realm of cost effective rifles, not just the high dollar shooters can play the long range game anymore.

Ok, so what you may say, another cheap gun, woo, big deal.  Now just hold your horses there bucko, hear me out.  Since Marlin has existed the have always been at the forefront at supplying quality firearms that working class Americans can afford and they excel at this.

The Marlin X7VH TAC isn’t much for looks but she’s got the goods right where she needs them to be.  The one I currently have for testing is of the 308 win variety,  With it’s 18” threaded barrel it has promise of being a superb mid to long range rifle, with suppressor, or other muzzle device capability out of the box. 

At first opening the box, wow, that is short! 

After closer initial inspection it is quite the interesting piece. 

The action is copy of a Winchester 70


The bolt body looks similar to a Weatherby, the bolt face, barrel attachment and trigger is Savage.
 



The barrel is made side by side with Remington.


The stock is definitely that of a price point firearm, flexy, ugly, plastic, but it is pillar bedded, albeit not free floated.  It does have a generous recoil pad and a cheek rest.


The threaded muzzle will host any 5/8-24 devices and it comes with an excellent thread protector.


It comes with a one piece scope rail, it would be nice to see this from other makers.

The safety is a two position, one drawback is it does not lock the bolt closed like the Savage.

I topped it off with a Burris Fullfield II 4.5-14x42 AO scope with ballistic compensation reticle mounted on Burris signature ZEE rings.  With Federal American Eagle 168 OTM it shoots respectable for not being free floated. 

After getting on paper I figured a 200 yard test would be a good starting point.  Of course I had to pick a day when the wind is blowing 20+ from left to right, and the groups reflect this, but anyways it shot very well with factory ammo.  2.25" was the best five shot group at 200 with this setup, I did notice is tends to string the group from high left to low right, not too surprising with the poor metal to stock fitting. 6" was all I could do in a 10 shot group at 300, mind you in the wind.  I feel floating the barrel and hand loads will help greatly. 




After polishing the bolt body it feels much better and functions much better.  I also added a cheek riser to help with eliminating the chin weld of the low comb of the factory stock.


In recap for the retail price of $400, rifle alone, is a great buy for a heavy barrel entry level tactical rifle.  Currently there is a very limited aftermarket for this rifle but in time perhaps this will improve.  With the addition of a quality optic and some hand loading this would be a superb choice for a person on a budget.

NE Bull:
Nice write up.
How did you like the trigger? adjustable? did you play with it any?
Something that also stuck out is the great gripping/tool surface on the barrel?

sparky0068:
A few things to add, I only tried one kind of ammo, as the shortage was very active at the time of review, and I did not try hand loads in this gun.

M7025-06:
Nice write-up. 

I've heard nothing but good things about these Marlins...I even looked at 1 real hard when they first came out.  I'm not sure about other aftermarket parts, but I do know Boyd's makes aftermarket stocks for both the XL-7's & XS-7's.

CliffD:
Awesome write up sparky...and congrats on the new rifle! I like how you outfitted it too.

For about a year, I've been wanting a bolt action .308. I keep browsing Cabelas but haven't pulled the trigger yet (literally actually lol). The Marlin is definitely in the budget. Your positive review has me now wanting to go look at one in person. I've had the scope for about a year now, just no firearm to mount under it!

Nice shooting too! If you head back out with it on a calmer day, please post back with your results.

Thanks for this interesting review!

(btw, this is EXACTLY what I was hoping for with the Featured Firearm suggestion. Thanks! :) )

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