marlin xl7 issues

[Dirtautoguy]

Today I bought my wife a Marlin xl7 in .270 winchester. we had looked at some and decided that the xl7 was the best choice with feel and price. when we got it it all looks pretty nice and we like it however it seems to be lacking in the quality department.

 

first off the shells are a big pain to load its almost like the spring is to stiff and it doesnt like to accept 4 shells. next the bolt seems to have alot of play in it. I know my winchester 270 has play in it too but this doesnt feel quite right. also when loading another bullet it often kicks the bullet up and then tries to load the bullet at an angle which of course doesnt work. the action is very clunky feeling with shells in the gun. without shells its ok feelling. I can get it to cycle fair but I dont think its going to be something that my wife is going to be able to deal with in the heat of the hunt. the front trigger guard is stripped out and will not tighten down all the way. And last but not least when shot there seems to be powder coming out of the blow off hole which from my understanding shouldnt happen unless the load is to hot, or something is wrong. I have taken it apart and cleaned it really good and its no better. we shot 5 shells through it federal power shock 150 grain and after seeing that I dont know that its even safe to shoot .

 

what are your guys thoughts? anyone own one and have any of these issues?

 

the store I bought it from is closed so I cant take it back for a few days but I wanted to know what you all thought. thanks

[BlackZ71Silverado]

Sorry to hear your having issues but I am not surprised to be honest.

 

Marlin is a big name in the firearms industry. I own several Marlin rifles but they are all older models that had been gifts from family. The problems now are due to company that bought several well known and reliable firearms manufacturers, good ole "Freedom Group"!

They purchased several quality brand name firearms years ago and the quality is terrible for every brand under their control. They took reputable names such as Bushmaster, Remington, and Marlin and turned them into a joke.

 

Years ago, Bushmaster was a top quality civilian style AR-15 when they were built in Windham Maine. Freedom Group bought them out in 2006, moved them to Ilion NY, and turned them into subpar rifles/carbines. They use lesser quality materials and quality control is terrible.

 

Remington suffered the same fate when falling into the control of Freedom Group in 2007 (same year as Marlin) They used to be a very well built, reliable firearm. The Remington 700 action is known worldwide to be one of the best, if not the best, smoothest, most reliable action ever mass produced, Freedom Group put a stop to that. In recent years, Remington rifle quality has been pathetic to say the least. I bought two rifles since they have been under the FG banner and they both had issues. Had to replace both triggers due to non functional safety, sent one back to factory because it came with the wrong bolt, and the other had a bolt face for a different caliber rifle and the magazine spring wasn't strong enough to hold rounds. The actions were both very rough, they did not run near as smooth as my older Remington rifles. As long as FG controls Remington, I won't buy another.

 

Unfortunately this is the fate of Marlin as well. Freedom Group is TERRIBLE, they buy out big names and basically destroy the reputation of that firearm. Really sad to see this happening. Marlin is going into the crapper just like the others under FG.

 

The best thing you could do is take your loss and trade that Markin in toward a good Browning, Winchester, Weatherby, or Ruger. Those are the three Rifle brands I have been buying since 2008 and haven't had an issue with either. Very well built, reliable, and the quality control is excellent.

 

You can send it back to the factory but they couldn't build it right the first time, second time may be the same. There are actually certified warranty repair gun shops, you may want to check them out. They do the job right because their shops reputation depends on it....I still say unload the thing, take your loss and buy quality!

 

Good Luck, hope you get it taken care of.

 

 

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