I will admit it.

Yes, it is true.

Sometimes I will wake up in the dead of night, in a near fever cold sweat, after having a dream about shooting a perfect championship score.
Any gun writer who does not is either a liar, or not a real gun lover.

I mention this because I have found a rifle, that will give that same feeling to the average joe.
And this rifle can also be had for a price easy on any wallet (well, except for the ammo, but we will go into that later).

When I think of going to the range and shooting a nickle sized group, I usually think about doing it on a sunny day with zero wind and with a shooting rig that I have custom built to the tune of almost a couple of grand.
I DO NOT think of doing it with a rifle that can be bought off the shelf for under $200!

And here starts my story.

The day my boss came running into my office shouting "Robert, you have to check ths gun out...ain't she sweet"

Sorry, my boss gets a little excited over guns sometimes.
What he was showing me was a fairly new rifle from Marlin.
It was the 917v.

The first thing I noticed as he tossed this varmint shooter through the air to me, was its thick barrel.
In the world of .22's, a .920 diameter barrel is the norm for competitive target shooting, and here was an inexpensive .17 shooter straight off the shelve with a pretty thick barrel.
After grabbing my micrometer I realized it was not .920, but .820 in diameter, but still a lot thicker than most off the shelf small bores.

For those who do not know, the reason for a thicker barrel is that it dampens vibration.
The barrel vibration that occurs when you fire your rifle can cause it to go enough off target for you to run up a lousy score, or miss the small varmints it who have been tearing up your garden.
With a thicker barrel your barrel becomes stiffer and vibration is reduced.

Marlin it seems has taken this fact to heart and put a much thicker than normal barrel on this rifle, that no doubt helps to enhance its accuracy, as well as just making it look plain cool!
This blued barrel is 22" long with a 1:9 r.h. Twist Rate.

While no sites are provided, Marlin has grooved the receiver for a mount and drilled/tapped for scope bases which are included.
The scope we used mounted very easy with basic Weaver rings.



The next thing I noticed was the muzzle end of the barrel contained a very nice, smooth recessed crown.
This is also something that is becoming more popular, but is far from standard on production rifles.

Recessed crowns help protect the muzzle crown when cleaning or knocking the gun around.
And the crown also helps accuracy by allowing for the release of gas behind the bullet to exit the muzzle in a uniform direction, helping keep the bullet on track as it exits.

a chipped or scratched crown or muzzle can redirect that gas to leave in a non-uniform fashion and push the bullet slightly in one direction of another off track.

Again, Marlin has done a nice job here to keep accuracy the main concern of this rifle.



Now comes the time in every gun writers story where I dig into the promotional material from the manufacturer.

And this is where I do not make many friends (at least with the manufacturers sales people).
Most gun writers are happy to go on and on feeding you the information straight from the manufacturers sales department.
I on the other hand, look at these tidbits of ad prose, then tell you the truth as I see it.
So lets get started.

Marlin, as we all know, is a gun manufacturer with a serious history.
Their model 60 is pretty much a legend in the rifle business.
They make great guns and make them where most people can afford them.

In the 917V and many of there other bolt action models, they have placed what they call the new "T-900 FIRE CONTROL SYSTEM"

I'm sure the marketing people had a huge round of backslapping for coming up with that star wars sounding name, for what is simply a looser trigger system.

The promotional material from Marlin says this is a "Revolutionary trigger and safety system with a wide, serrated finger-contact surface conductive to an easy pull, a noticeably improved and consistent trigger action, plus a newly engineered quiet safety with security features that drivel those found on the highest priced centerfire rifles.

Well,
as for the "feel of the trigger" in this system, it is wider, and really does have a nice pull feel to it.
But it does suffer from some looseness in design that allows it to wiggle from side to side. This can be addressed with inserting shims into the system, but I still consider it a design flaw.

The trigger has a cover over the hammer & sear, does have a nice access hole that allow for easy greasing of the hammer/sear contact point without having to take the entire trigger apart, and this IS a nice design advantage.

For all the "hoo ha" in the promotional materials, we really don't see much of an advantage in the safety department.
Don't get me wrong, the safety and safety system of the 917V is top notch, but the promotional material is a little over the top on this point.

The number one concern that every shooter has with the trigger system is how much pull is needed, and is the trigger creepy (pre- and post fire trigger travel) or not.

I am happy to say the Y-900 trigger is nice and crisp, much more than most production triggers.

While the trigger pull is less than some other manufactures (Like the Ruger that almost makes you wonder if the safety is on), it could still use some work.
We rated the pull at 4 1/2 pounds, and were told we got lucky getting a trigger that light.

Still, most target shooters demand a trigger at 2 1/2 pounds or less (under a pound for bench competition).
So this rifle is still in a position of either needing a trigger job from a qualified gunsmith, or a quality aftermarket part.
But what do you want?
This is a rifle that you can buy for under $200.

One good alternative for around $80 is the Basix Trigger System.

This system is an easy drop-in and can be found at:
http://riflebasix.com and can give your 917V a nice crisp clean trigger pull adjustable from 14 oz. to 2 pounds.




So, now I wanted to see what this rifle can do. I started by cleaning the bolt action and barrel.
I then applied a molyFusion based oil (which always helps the bolt action performance), grabbed my shopping cart full of test/shooting goodies and headed to the range.

First we did a basic barrel break-in.
Now, I am not a big believer in barrel break-in procedures.
I believe that if you clean the barrel every five or ten rounds it does not do anything more than if you had just shot a couple of boxes without cleaning.
(we plan to do an actual test soon to confirm this, but to play it safe, we went through an EXPENSIVE 100 rounds cleaning between every five rounds anyway.)

We then cleaned the barrel again and started shooting ten round groups.
After another EXPENSIVE box of .17hmr hornaday ammo (are you getting the feeling yet that I am not happy about the price of this ammo??)
we were amazed at what we had shot.

Using a caldwell Rock out front and some range sand bags for the back end, we were shooting ten round groups at 100 yards that could fit in the size of a quarter, with no flyers.
We are impressed, especially using the factory trigger!
We also noticed that after about 50 rounds, the bolts sliding action became real smooth and easy (no doubt due to the moly).



Now for a couple of things that Marlin really needs to change on this rifle!

First, all Marlin bolt actions use a button head take down bolt with a slotted screw head.
While my boss helps pay his bills manufacturing HEX HEAD take down bolts for Ruger 10/22s (at cheapgunparts.com), and will soon be introducing hex heads for Marlins, I still do not understand why rifle manufacturers have not already made this basic design change on there own!

Maybe they realize that the slotted heads result in screwdrivers slipping and damaging stocks, and this is a way to sell more stocks?
I doubt it though.
It is more likely just a matter of manufacturers not going that extra mile to give the public what they really need.

As for the stock itself,
The walnut finished hardwood stock has a very nice fit and feel to it.
The stock comes with swivel studs, monte carlo styling with a pistol like grip.
It is finished with a protective coating that does a fairly good job protecting the wood.

The barrel is delivered "free floated" enough to slide a business card from the receiver forward.
The checkering is nice especially for a budget rifle.
Total weight for the rifle was 6 pounds overall length of 41", which with a scope added, is fine for dragging thought the woods without discomfort.



The other thing that needs to be addressed is the cheap 7 round metal magazine clip that come with the 917.
We have found these clips over time, become loose to the point where they drop down and you manually have to raise the clip with your finger when bolting in a fresh round, or the round will not sit high enough in the clip to slide into place.
A heavier metal in the rails on the clips might be the answer, but a redesign is needed here.
And why 7 rounds? The law allows (at this time) for a ten round clip, so why not go for the full ten?

If you have never fired a .17hmr rifle, you will find it (especially the 917V) quite pleasant.
Almost no kick, with a nice magnum bang that also does not blow your ear plugs out.

The .17 HMR we used (V-MAX) generated 25% more muzzle velocity than a .22 Win Mag round.
This round also shows less reaction to windage movement than the .22 magnum round.

The only problem with the .17 ammo is cost ($8 to $12 for a box of 50), though as time goes on, this will eventually get to a more affordable level.



Overall, I have come away from the test with the opinon that the 917V is a great rifle for the money, and would be a perfect first rifle for the new shooter.
MSRP has been quoted as high as $279 at various sources, but we have found the rifle at both Walmart and several Independant gunshops at under $200 (Our model cost $179.95 plus tax).

If you want a great, inexpensive .17 that shoots dead-on right out of this box, the Marlin 917V is it.
Add an aftermarket Basix Trigger and a good scope, and you will also have a solid competitor.

Note: the 917 is also available in a 917VS model, which features gray/black laminate hardwood stock, a 22" Stainless Steel Barrel and nickle plated clip and swing swivel studs. And is one pound heavier at 7 pounds. And is heavier also by an additional $100.

- Robert Gage
Armed America LLC Senior Tester