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Marlin XS-7

About the Marlin

The story of the Marlin company started in 1836 in Connecticut, the birthplace of John Mahlon Marlin. As the civil war commenced, he began his working carrier at the Colt plant in Hartford. Five years after the war, he started his own company in New Haven, Connecticut, and named it Marlin Firearms. Between 1870 and 1899 the company produced a manifold of pistols, revolvers, and derringers with one of the biggest strategic moves being made in 1881 when it introduced its first lever-action repeating rifle – Model 1881. Another breakthrough was made by the company with the introduction of the 1889 Model - a lever rifle with a solid top that ejected the empty cartridges out of the side of the receiver. This was the feature that in later years became equated with the term "Marlin Safety". The concept was further utilised in the following years on a .22 rimfire lever-action - Model 1891. That led to the development of Model 39, introduced in 1922, with almost 3 million rifles produced to date. Two years later, a new model was released under the name Model 1893 which was later renamed the Model 1936/Model 36, manufactured up until 1948. It was improved and renamed Model 336 in the same year. For some time, Marlin also produced rifles for Savage as they lacked manufacturing capabilities.

After the death of John Marlin, his two sons inherited the business, and the company went through several ownership changes. It was sold around 1915 to William Bonbright & Co. and Kissell-Kinnicut & Co. - a group of investors associated with J.P. Morgan. Shortly after, A.F. Rockwell became the president of the company and renamed it Marlin Rockwell Corporation in 1916; however, in 1919, John. F. Moran took over. After World War I, the economic decline became apparent, and the company shifted its focus to various other businesses. They manufactured ball bearings, roller bearings, radiators, wires, bombs, and even automobiles. In 1921, a simplified manufacturing line was formed that specialized in the production of sporting firearms and was named Marlin Firearms Corporation. Due to a decrease in sales, the company was put on the auction block in 1924 when it was bought for a small price of $100 by lawyer Frank Kenna.

The after-war years offered new opportunities and the sales gradually improved. In 1949, Model 36 was redesigned and renamed Model 336. It is still manufactured today as one of the most popular lever-action rifles in the world. Additionally, the company pioneered the Micro-Groove rifling which was supposed to allow for better shooting accuracy and was the standard on Marlin rifles up until the 1990s.

In 1956, the company introduced Model 56 which featured a modernised lever design with a short lever throw allowing for fast reloading. The series was later named Marlin 'Levermatic'. Shortly after, Model 57 and a centrefire Model 62 were presented. However, the Levermatic series did not sell too well and was discontinued in 1973. Some of the most recognizable models from that time were Glenfield Model 30, Model 444, and reintroduced Models 1894 and 1895 which are still manufactured today. With new regulations taking place, Marlin added a cross-bolt safety to their rifles around 1983. Numerous models were presented in later years such as Model 700, Model 780, Model 80, Model 7000, Model 2000, Model XL7, and XS7 along with some pump-action shotguns like Models 16, 17, 19 etc.

In 2007 Marlin was bought by Remington Arms, however, the ownership changed again in the following decade. Since 2020, the Marlin is owned by Sturm, Ruger & Co. Over 6 million guns and 150 years later, they carry on Marlin’s legacy of innovativeness and quality.

Marlin XS-7 Rifle Review

Marlin XS-7 is a bolt-action, centerfire rifle and a short version of the Marlin X-series. Aside from the action length, it shares other structural components with XL-7. It comes with a Remington-style two-position safety lever that is positioned on the right upper side of the receiver and a red dot indicator that show when a round is chambered.

The rifle is available both in synthetic and wooden stocks. The flat-top receiver which through the years became the signature shape for Marlin lever actions is no longer present on XS-7 and is instead substituted with a more conventional drilled and tapped mounting surface of a round shape. The bolt head, which is a separate piece from the bolt body, is machined from the same steel alloy material and features two opposing locking lugs, locking up safely with the barrel extension.

Loading of the internal magazine that can hold up to five cartridges is carried out through the top. Just like XL-7, Marlin XS-7 is equipped with a rubber recoil pad and a factory pre-set Pro-Fire trigger which is manually adjustable using the Allen key.

The possible barrel length for marlin XS-7 is 559 mm (22-inch).

Marlin XS-7, chambered for .308 Win.

Figure 1: Marlin XS-7, chambered for .308 Win. (Source. https://www.icollector.com/Marlin-XS7-308-Win-SN-91725136_i33327885)

Marlin XS-7 can be chambered for the following calibres:

.22-250 Rem.
.243 Win.
7mm-08 Rem.
.308 Win.

Marlin XS-7 receivers come with four holes for mounting purposes, two on the front and two on the rear mounting surface.

The receiver of Marlin XS-7, chambered for .308 Win.

Figure 2: The receiver of Marlin XS-7, chambered for .308 Win. (Source: https://www.all4shooters.com/en/shooting/rifles/marlin-xs7-hunting-rifle/)

Unfortunately, we were unable to find a better close-up photo of the Marlin XS-7 bare mounting surface (no mounts installed). Should you happen to own this rifle and would be willing to send us some photos of the receiver, please contact us. We thank you for your help.

A: 21.9 mm

B: 82.8 mm

C: 21.9 mm

BHU: 3.4 mm

Ø: 6-48

R1: R34

R2: R17

Which Rifles Have Interchangeable Mounts

Two-piece mounts

For two-piece mounts to fit on a rifle, mounting surfaces must match in all dimensions except the B distance. B distance can vary because two-piece mounts can be installed and adjusted closer or further apart. Rifles that meet such criteria are:

Winchester 70 STD
Winchester Model 70 SA
Winchester Model 70 WSM
Winchester M70 Extra Long
Marlin XL-7

One-piece mounts

All the rifles listed in the category below have one-piece mounts interchangeable with Marlin XS-7. For one-piece mounts to fit on a rifle, mounting surfaces on these rifles must match in every dimension. Rifles that share the same dimensions and mounting surface with Marlin XS-7 are:

Winchester 70 SA

Our Recommendations for Mounts

Fixed Mounts

This two-piece mounting solution manufactured by the German company MAK is made of steel and comes with a thirty-year warranty. It is suitable for Marlin XS-7.

Picatinny Rails

If you are looking for a multi-functional mounting surface for your rifle, we recommend this Picatinny rail manufactured by the American company EGW. It is made entirely of aluminium and comes with a two-year warranty.

Help Us Build Our Riflescope Mounts Database

If you happen to own this or any other rifle, we would appreciate it if you could help us expand our database by sending us some photos of the rifle receiver (the bare mounting surface of the rifle without the mounts installed). For your help, our company offers a fair return in terms of practical rewards.

Please send us an email for more information. You can contact us here: info@optics-trade.eu

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MDT Picatinny Scope Base, Winchester M70 SA, 20 MOA

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VIDEO

Introduction

In recent years we can observe that a trend of Picatinny rail has become widespread and global. It is driven by the NATO standardized rails, more commonly known as the Picatinny rail standard. Picatinny rail being the New Jersey Arsenal that developed it in 1995.

These mounting options are revolutionary. The biggest and best advantage being that the Picatinny rail can be used its entire length and not bordered to a few pre-designed slots like for example the Weaver rail standard was before.

The other main advantage is the ease of use and interchangeability. If a product is meant for a Picatinny rail design it will fit all Picatinny-rails, no matter the manufacturer or date of production.

Picatinny/Weaver Rail

Picatinny Rail and Weaver rail profile

Design

The Picatinny rail is almost exclusively crafted from a single piece of metal (in some cases aluminum). In this manner, the axis of the Picatinny rail is perfectly straight and aligned with the axis of the firearm. Therefore the rifle scope which is mounted onto this kind of configuration is certainly aligned with the rifle / gun and the trajectory of the ammunition.

Weaver rail design on the other hand is usually manufactured in two separate pieces, greatly increasing the possibilities for the axis to be crooked, overlapping, and out of line.

It is always harder to align two separate pieces to a third line than it is to align one piece to another. In this way, the lapping of two mounting rings on a single-piece Picatinny rail is no longer required.

The single-piece rail will assure that both rings are perfectly aligned to each other and that no unwished stress is transferred to the riflescope.

Picatinny compare to Weaver Rail

The Picatinny rail itself is an evolutionary step forward from the older Weaver rail. The main difference between Picatinny rail and Weaver rail is the spacing of the slots. Picatinny rail design has them evenly placed exactly 5.23 mm from one slot to the other, 3 mm deep. For this reason, the mounting options are repeatable and the same as other firearms using the Picatinny rail standard.

Interchangeability was a major driving force in the development of the new standard as different NATO armies need to be compatible with each other.

Weaver rail has 3.8mm wide slots and these slots can be placed anywhere on the Weaver rail and in any number that the producer wished.

Advantages of Picatinny design

A big advantage for using the Picatinny rail design is the ever-present recoil stop. Furthermore, the manufacturing of the rail is not very technically demanding and can be done without the use of state-of-the-art machines which greatly reduces the cost of the finished product, making it very affordable.

The Picatinny rail is easy to mount and usually, this type of configuration does not transfer negative stresses and forces from the fired weapon to the rifle scope.

In addition, the Picatinny rail with its very long useable surface works well for mounting longer rifle scopes or to achieve optimum eye relief.

The durability and toughness are other big pluses for this solution.

Manufacturers of Popular Models

A majority of the Picatinny rings are fixed, but a number of best rated European manufacturers (EAW, MAK,..) have, in recent years, put a lot of effort into the development of detachable ring with100% repeatability, with which it becomes easy to remove the scope from the weapon without the use of tools.

No re-zeroing is needed with such mount options, but these models tend to be expensive.

Weaver and Picatinny Rings

Picatinny rail and weaver rail share one more thing. It is possible to use the Weaver ring and the Picatinny ring on the Picatinny-rails, but it is usually impossible to use the Picatinny ring on the Weaver base. The reason being the above-mentioned positioning and spacing of the slots.

Picatinny mounts have a 5mm recoil stop that goes into the rail slot and since
Weaver rail only has 3.8mm wide slots such rings do not fit on Weaver rails.

Due to this reason, the Picatinny-rails are popular and prevailing on the market in recent years and eventually, these options will completely oust the Weaver rail from the market.

Marlin XS-7

About the Marlin

Marlin XS-7 Rifle Review

Marlin XS-7 can be chambered for the following calibres: