This is a 338 Marlin Express with the 22" barrel. It's equipped with a Leupold 2.5x8 36mm scope, a Decelerator recoil pad, and a beartooth comb elevation kit. The beartooth kit is an interim solution until I can set aside some money for a tooled leather cheek rest from Levergun Leather Works.
Following is the the shooting details with some other comments.
Ammo was Factory Leverevolution 200gr "gummie" tip.
Distance was 100 yards with a crosswind from left to right gusting around 35 mph and shooting off a benchrest. If you tried to shoot any other way, you'd get blown around too much by the gusts. Even from the benchrest the gusts would still move you some.
Rifle was sighted in about 1 inch high at 100yds. I tried to hold on the bullseye instead of compensating for the wind in order to shoot for a group.
So here's the 5 shot group even in those conditions.
Group measures 0.8 inches on center vertically, and 1.4 inches center to center horizontally. That seems pretty decent to me in those wind conditions. I think the vertical spread was more from me getting blown around than the bullet.
Now keep in mind, I'm only a fair shooter as I'm still adjusting to shooting lefty, and am finally being taught to shoot correctly. I've only got to spend one brief session doing some dry fire practice with a friend that's a retired Marine, so I have lots to learn still. I believe this rifle will easily shoot sub MOA in the hands of a good shooter.
This is scanned from a 12x 12 inch target. I thought I'd missed on one of the shots and was trying to figure out how I could miss the entire target . . . until I walked up and realized the top hole was slightly bigger than the middle hole. ;D
I'd like to see what this rifle could do in the hands of someone that can really shoot.
BTW, after shooting for the group I looked at the ballistics and adjusted it to be 2.5 inches high at 100 yds.
Before sighting it in at 100, I set it up at 50. The wind wasn't quite as bad at that point and the first shot printed dead center about 4 inches high. The rifle literally walked the shots down the center line with each elevation adjustment. Probably no more than 1/2 a bullet width in variation in 4 shots. Made me anxious to do the jump to 100 yards
It took 4 shots because I had a brain fanny burp and moved the crosshairs in the wrong direction the first time- doh!!! :-[. If I'd had a way to clamp the rifle down while making the adjustments, it would have been a one shot adjustment. Well, 2 shots with the initial goof ::)
Stoopid wind picked up while I was waiting for a range break to set up the 100 yd target.
Additional comments
Consistency
All told, put about 24 rounds through her. No vertical stringing at all. No flyers that could not be accounted for by me doing something wrong.
Comb Elevation
I still think Marlin screwed up by not offering an elevated comb option on the Marlin Express series. Here they design a rifle for 300+ yard shooting and then have too much drop in the stock to get a solid cheek weld with a scope. So far, no complaints with the Beartooth kit. I'm still playing with the height. It stayed in place and didn't move. Also saw some people recommend 2 small pieces of double sided sticky tape on the pad next to the stock.
Recoil pad
I really like the Pachmyr decelerator pad. Personally, it seems better than the Limbsaver. No sore shoulder at all with 24 rds through the 338, 45 rounds through my 1894c (357), and a couple hundred through the model 60. Both of which were after shooting the 338. (keep in mind though, this has almost 4 lbs less recoil than a 30-06 shooting 180 gr bullets)
For anyone buying a 338MX, I HIGHLY recommend replacing the solid rubber pad with a recoil pad. If the ammo wasn't so hard to get locally, I'd have put my last 10 rounds through her.
Scopes, 338MX, and cowboy hats.
Got some strange looks when I went to shoot and didn't take my hat off. The brim is just over the eyepiece. I think people were even more surprised when the scope never touched the hat. ;D To me this shows the stock angle is pretty good. Not a lot of lift in the recoil.
And with the hat, who needs to put a shade extension on the scope
;D
. I picked up a Leupold 2X7 off the classifieds a few weeks ago and should mount it on My MX .338 within the next week. Good Report.
