Review: Marlin X7 Bolt Action Rifle Chambered In .223

Today’s review is of the Marlin X7 bolt action rifle, chambered in .223

I have shot .243 and .270 versions of the rifle and the are pretty much the same gun with different chambering/bolts, they have the same trigger groups, stocks, etc… so it’s fair to compare them to this particular gun.

This Marlin X7 is wearing a Vortex 3-9 scope sighted in at 200 yards

Marlin X7 Philosophy Of Use:

One might think there’s just one POU for an inexpensive plastic-stocked bolt action hunting rifle… to kill critters. In .223 it’s a perfect gun for coyotes, foxes, whistle pigs (known elsewhere as groundhogs), prairie dogs, rabbits you just want rid of (i.e. don’t plan to skin/eat), feral dumped domestic animals, skunks, etc. The gun has the advantage of shooting up to 200 yards with pinpoint accuracy on nearly a flat trajectory.

The Marlin X7 in .223, at least the one in my stable of arms, actually has a completely different purpose. I use it to hone our skills at long-distance shooting using extremely inexpensive ammunition.

I have got a ton… and by a ton I mean a foo-foo load… of .223/5.56 ammo sitting around, ammo that I purchased back in the day when ammo was much more reasonably priced.

The Marlin X7 is rated for .223 and not specifically for 5.56 (more on that later) so I shoot .223 in it. Mostly, I shoot rot-gut commie-block steel ammo through it, non-corrosive ammo I bought by the case load a few years ago. That makes it exceedingly cheap to run.

Using the Marlin X7 as a trainer

The advantages the Marlin X7 has as a trainer are simple. It shoots a high powered bullet accurately up to the range of the round, it makes a really loud bang, the gun has a great trigger and the round has virtually no recoil… in addition to being cheap to shoot.

You can use a bolt action .22LR as a trainer for less than 100 yards, but here is no way to shoot accurately at long distances other than to practice. There’s no way to get good at learning how to estimate range and calculate drop and windage other than just going out and doing it.

What this gun does is gives us a tool to use to do just that, practice our 200, 300 and longer yard/meter shooting without costing us a buck a shot to do it.

One common failing I see with a LOT of preppers is that they think that owning a gun that can shoot accurately to 300-500 yards means that THEY can shoot accurately at 300-500 yards. That’s not how it works. You have to actually LEARN long distance shooting, then you have to PRACTICE your skills or they will degrade.

Many non-gun-loving preppers make the mistake that just owning a gun protects them… it doesn’t, you have to be able to USE the gun in an emergency. The only way to do that is through learning, training, and practice practice practice.

Marlin X7 Tale Of The Tape:

Stock: Polymer, with pillar bedding already installed
Capacity: 4 rounds +1
Finish: Blued
Barrel Length: depends on model, the .223 is 22”
Overall Length: depends on model, the .223 is 42 1/2
Front Sight: NONE
Rear Sight: NONE (Weaver base included)
Weight: 6.5 LBS empty, no scope

Ammunition:

The X7 isn’t specifically rated for both .223 and the nearly (but not quite identical) 5.56 NATO rounds. I can attest that 5.56 NATO rounds fit easily into my rifle, but since it is not technically rated for that round I do not fire them in it (others do with now apparent problems, but I don’t). The gun is available in .223, .343, .25-06, .270, 7mm-08, .308 and .30-06. The youth model is available in .243, 7mm-08 and .308. The heavy barrel version comes is .22-250 and .308.

Marlin X7 Shooting & Action:

The gun is extremely accurate, well behaved, and shoots exactly as you would expect it would for the price range. If you’ve shot a Savage Axis or a Ruger American Rifle, then you’ve pretty much shot this gun as well, they are nearly identical in shooting experiences.

I love how gun company’s promo departments come up with super duper fancy names for their gun’s features. With the X7, they have the “Soft-Tech Recoil Pad” and the “Pro-Fire Trigger System”… OH BOY, HOW EXCITING.

The recoil pad? Yeah, it’s OK. On a .223 it really doesn’t matter much but by the time you get to a .308 or a .30-06, then yeah, having a good pad is a nice feature.

How’s the trigger?

The trigger? That’s really the heart of any gun, especially a high-accuracy bolt-action rifle. The X7’s trigger is quite good, easily adjustable to weight of pull you want. It’s smooth and breaks at just the right place. I set mine for 4 LBS. There is no trigger creep. It also has a “Glock like” trigger safety that keeps the gun from discharging if dropped… you can only fire the gun by pulling the trigger. Honestly, this isn’t the “best trigger ever” but it’s pretty darned good, and compares well to the Savage Accutrigger.

The bolt action is quite smooth. It’s fluted to decrease the surface area, and it just works as advertised.

As good as that is, there is one problem with the .223 Marlin X7

There is one thing about this gun, however, that stops me from giving it a completely glowing recommendation. In the .223 chambering, loading the gun is a royal pain in the ass until you learn the trick. Generally, loading a bolty that has an internal mag is as easy as pie. Take the round, put the back of the round just in front of the back of the magazine wall, and push down.

Do that with this gun, and “all kinds of interesting things happen”, it’s hard telling where the bullet will end up, but the one thing for sure is it won’t be in the magazine in any usable fashion. After long and frustrating struggles, I FINALLY figured out how to load it so that the stupid magazine messenger won’t go wonky.

Take the round, CENTER IT over the magazine hole putting exactly equal amounts of pressure on the nose and tail of the bullet. As it pops down below the magazine lips, in one motion slide the bullet back so that it is sitting against the back wall of the magazine. Do that, it will load quickly and perfectly every time. Any other way? Drama.

The gun shoots out as you would expect it, sub MOA at 100 yards. My wife likes put up man-sized targets and at 100 yards draw faces on them. Three holes for each eye, a nose that’s a line of bullets, then a mouth shaped in whatever mood she’s in that day.

Yeah, I REALLY wouldn’t want to be on the wrong end of a gun she’s pointing with intent to harm. Seriously. She’s the nicest person on the planet, but I sure as heck wouldn’t try to mess with her and I suggest others don’t either.

The Bottom Line:

The Marlin X7 is a good plastic rifle, better than many but about what you would expect. Except for the Grumpy loading (the larger calibers don’t have this issue, I suspect it’s because the .223 is using a magazine that’s “bigger than needed for .223”).

I’m glad I own it, and we use it a lot. I would recommend it, but then again I also recommend the Savage Axis and Ruger American Rifle series as well. All three are good guns.