One Off The List

This morning I set out with the singular goal of purchasing a firearm.

I have long wanted a Marlin 795 to make an Appleseed gun out of, but I saw a Savage 64F in the local mart of walls for a pretty reasonable price. I decided that if the 795 was not available I would opt for the Savage instead.

My first stop was at the aforementioned mart of walls to ensure the Savage was still there, and much to my delight, there in the ammo case, was .45ACP and 5.56 Winchester white boxes! The 5.56 was in 20 round boxes, but there was a whole pile of them. The .45ACP was in the 100 round white boxes, a sight I had not beheld in quite some time.

Limited to 3 boxes total, I opted for two of Gods Own Caliber and one of the 5.56. I'll have to pop in tomorrow early and see if there is any of the 5.56 left, if so I'll get three more boxes. I'm not expecting them to be there, but I can hope.

With the availability of the Savage determined I was off to Gander Mountain in search of the elusive Marlin. When I stepped up to the gun counter what should my wandering eyes see but...the very object of my desire, front and center in the display rack! When the clerk stepped over to me I pointed and said "I'll take that one right there."

We went over to the BATFE(IEIO) desk and filled out the proper paperwork, and before you could say "Mark Kelly is a sad panda" I was carrying the box out to the car. I don't know if the BATFE(IEIO) was aware of my existence before but now they can tell for sure that I own one firearm, and I can say that my carry permit made the process much more streamlined.

Along with the ammo purchases at the mart of walls I had also picked up a set of sling swivels and a cheapo nylon sling in anticipation of my acquisition. As soon as I got it home (well, after I walked the dog that was ecstatic to see that I had made it home safely) I put its new accessories on.

First impressions: It's shorter than the Model 60, but it's obvious to even the most casual observer that the actions are the same, the biggest difference is the magazines.

The Model 60 sports the traditional wood stock while the Model 795 has a synthetic stock. I prefer the looks of the wood stock, but the synthetic stock makes for a lighter rifle. The 795 weighs in at a mere 4.5 lbs, a full pound lighter than it's wood stocked sibling. The synthetic stock is just a touch longer, but not long enough to make up for the Model 60's barrel length advantage.

Another very obvious difference is the bolt release. Pressing the tab up on the 60 releases the bolt, pressing the lever down on the 795 accomplishes that purpose. Both have the last-shot open feature, and pulling the bolt clear back and pushing the handle inward locks both bolts fully open.

A look at the top of the receiver further illustrates the similarity of the two rifles. I had not noticed the integrated rail on the Model 60 until I looked at the 795, but the two are identical.
 

On the previous models of the 795 the swivel studs were the traditional screw-in post type, but on this model they are molded into the stock. I'm not sure how much I like that...

but they worked well. The swivels mounted up with no issues, and if they do end up being troublesome I can always drill and install the studs that came with the swivels.

It needs some Tech-Sights TSM200 aperture sights (on order) and then it's all ready for Appleseed. It won't have the fancy engraving, but I think I can live without it.

All told the final cost was as follows: rifle, $160.11 with tax; sling swivels, $9.97 (tax not included); el-cheapo WallyWorld sling, $6.97 (tax not included); Tech-Sights TSM200 sights, $75.00 shipped, total cost approximately $255 (estimating the tax for the sling and swivels). Add a $20.00 magazine (the standard Marlin magazines are about the same price as a ProMag 25 rounder) and the cost ends up being in the neighborhood of $275, Appleseed ready. Not bad, considering the Ruger 10/22 will cost you around $250 for the basic rifle, and then you have to add the sights, sling and swivels to it as well...and this is before the trigger and barrel mods are done to the gun (I don't know that it absolutely needs them, but apparently everyone does them so there must be something to it).

Now all I need to do is put some .22LR through it.