I'm looking for a new bolt action 22 LR, either tube fed or a magazine. Are there any pros or cons to either one? Is either more reliable than the other?

here's what I've come up with so far:

Tube fed:
pros
-cheaper than buying seperate mags
-easier to load

cons
-doesn't look as nice as a magazine

Magazines:
pros
-faster to put a different mag in a rifle than to reload a tube
-can carry extra mags

con
-mags are expensive
-it takes awhile to load each individual shell into a magazine


I have limited experience with both types here (I mostly shoot single shot rifles) so if I made a mistake feel free to correct me and add your own intelligence.
Also, how much difference in accuracy does a heavy barrel make when compared to a standard barrel?

Thanks,
Sven

Most tube mags will feed Shorts & Longs, as well as Long Rifles. Few clips will, and it's usually requires a separate Short clip. Whether that's important with today's cheap Long Rifle bulk paks is open to question

Bye
Jack

Add in that the tube (unless it's a butt stock tube as on a Browning) has to atatch to the barrel with some type of hanger...and a groove in the fore end...and a bit more complication in the reciver. Would not be my choice for a all-out target gun.

Do like tube magazines for most uses...hard to lose the magazine, hold more rounds, and add weight wehre it can be best used.

I own both tube feeds and clip feeds and prefer the clip. The cost is minimual for clips and they are more convenient to use. In addition, when new shooters are involved, a clip is easier to remove and make the gun safe. A round can still be in the tube and a novice could miss it.

Be aware that some bolt and clip feed rifles (some Marlin models for example) have a small flat spring at the top of the chamber/receiver area. It resembles a blued bobby pin. It works OK until it breaks then a gunsmith has to pull the barrel to replace it which is not a cheap repair. Hope this helps. All the best...
Gil

I own both tube feeds and clip feeds and prefer the clip. The cost is minimual for clips and they are more convenient to use. In addition, when new shooters are involved, a clip is easier to remove and make the gun safe. A round can still be in the tube and a novice could miss it.

Be aware that some bolt and clip feed rifles (some Marlin models for example) have a small flat spring at the top of the chamber/receiver area. It resembles a blued bobby pin. It works OK until it breaks then a gunsmith has to pull the barrel to replace it which is not a cheap repair. Hope this helps. All the best...
Gil
Marlin has done away with the flat spring some time ago.You should go to a shop and try both in the store.Open the bolts and look inside to see how each is diffrent and to see if you can tell if the tube fed is unloaded easily or not.Most of the mag. tube followers are orange now instead of black so you can see it easer.

My .22mag is a tube magazine. I like it. It stores 12 rounds which a clip magazine ant hold that many. Also you cant loose it easily. Mine is a Marlin model 983. Its a good gun if you want to look into it. I believe that they make a model like that in .22lr too, and I know for a fact that they make that with clip mags as well.

So which type of mag you should go with is a personal preference. It also depends on how it looks on the gun. With synthetic stocks I believe that clip mags look better. Just look around and you'll find one.


By the way, the Ruger 10/22 has a nice little rotary clip that loads like a clip magazine which you cant see when it is inserted. I've fired that gun a few times and its a nice accurate rifle.

Another personal like/dislike is the way the gun balances and carries in the hand. Tube fed and flush detachable mags make better carrying guns. With detachable mags that hang down it messes up the balance point if carry one handed (assuming balance point is just under action or in front of trigger. Also if you carry the weapon slung, mags can jab you.

Suggest that you don't worry about it for they both work. Would worry about getting the best deal and finding one that fits you best and you like it.

Always felt the most solid magazine was the Browing tube-fed (with tube in the butt stock)...to break or dent the tube, would have to break the stock.

Tube mags do have that "lurking" round problem...where one hangs up in the tube, you cycle the action a few times and nothing ejects, so you think it's empty (but it's not). One place where a bright read plastic follower is better than steel...gives you a visual on the tube being clear.

Have a Rossi pump...one of the modifications was to lathe grooves around the tip of the follower and fill them with bright orange paint...if I look into the action and don't see a bit of orange sticking out of the mag tube, it ain't empty.

I have never had any problems with bullets lurking around. I have a marlin 60. To unload it, when not unloading it down range, I clear the chamber, then just pull the spring out and dump it. Do you get lurking rounds when unloading this way.

-9r

I think everyone has done a good job of outlining the pros / cons of the tube vs mag. IMHO it basically comes down to personal preference, and with that said, I agree totally with Combat Diver in that "Tube fed and flush detachable mags make better carrying guns" and I might add "better looking guns".

Between those two, Tube fed vs flush mount mag, I think it basically comes down to what type of shooting you are doing. If you are a paper punching purist, it doesn't make much sense to have a free floated barrel with a tube mag hanging off of it...LOL. For hunting / plinking, the tube obviously holds a lot more rounds than a flush mount mag, and having the tube attached to the barrel will not affect hunting accuracy enough to amount to anything.

Although I do paper punch for practice, I'm primarilly a hunter / plinker so I vote for the tube.

firstshot

This past weekend, a friend of mine were going prairie dogging, he had his 10/22 and I had my marlin 60. And somewhere in moving all the equipment to the truck he left his ammo bag (I had mine though, with plenty of 22 rounds) When we got to the site we pulled out guns out and thats when he noticed he left his bag behind, I told him he could use my rounds, but then he asked if I had a clip. But since my gun didn't have a clip I just loaded up and had a blast, he on the other hand was having a very bad morning. So if going with a magazine type gun, I would keep the clips in or near the gun at all times, store in the same case (case with a side pocket or something, I keep my extra chokes in a side pocket of my shotgun case so I will always have them in case I need them), just make sure the gun is empty.
-9r

I personally just like the look of Tube fed mags. but for plinking i pop a pre ban 50 round clip into the 10/22 and go to town when i need to set up bottles/cans i just pull the mag off and dump the one out of the chamber and back into the mag. My cousins plink with some no name brand tube fed pump action, alot of fun too, but i like the magazine semi-auto for plinking.

This past weekend, a friend of mine were going prairie dogging, he had his 10/22 and I had my marlin 60. And somewhere in moving all the equipment to the truck he left his ammo bag (I had mine though, with plenty of 22 rounds) When we got to the site we pulled out guns out and thats when he noticed he left his bag behind, I told him he could use my rounds, but then he asked if I had a clip. But since my gun didn't have a clip I just loaded up and had a blast, he on the other hand was having a very bad morning. So if going with a magazine type gun, I would keep the clips in or near the gun at all times, store in the same case (case with a side pocket or something, I keep my extra chokes in a side pocket of my shotgun case so I will always have them in case I need them), just make sure the gun is empty.
-9r

Could your friend just used a single shot?

Could your friend just used a single shot?

Yeah but whats the fun in that? Especially after my 60 was a single shot. He used to have the upper hand and be able to shoot a 10 round clip w/o jamming and show me up. Things evened out though when I replaced the ejection spring. He was having a bad day so i didn't try to push anything though, forgetting his bag, speeding ticket, water cooler leaking 2 gallons in wife's SUV, goes on and on.

-9r

p.s. do they make a pre-ban 50 round tube for a marlin 60? :D

i wish!!! i love the Octogonal barrel in blue with a blue tube mag and a walnut stock... beautiful.

Yeah but whats the fun in that? Especially after my 60 was a single shot. He used to have the upper hand and be able to shoot a 10 round clip w/o jamming and show me up. Things evened out though when I replaced the ejection spring. He was having a bad day so i didn't try to push anything though, forgetting his bag, speeding ticket, water cooler leaking 2 gallons in wife's SUV, goes on and on.

-9r

p.s. do they make a pre-ban 50 round tube for a marlin 60? :D

Ah I gotcha, true it isnt fun doing single when you got a semi-auto. Thats the whole purpose of it after all! Sounds like your friend had a "fun" day :cool:. I wish they made a 50 round tube for the 60! Talk about using up rounds by the second...:D

When I was a kid, I only had a Marlin tube fed. I made speed loaders for it.
What I did was find pvc pipe with a larger diameter than the loading tube, cut the pipe to hold enough ammo to load the tube, then put plastic caps over the ends. To reload my tube I poped off the cap on the end of the pipe, then dumped the ammo into the tube:cool:.

When I was a kid, I only had a Marlin tube fed. I made speed loaders for it.
What I did was find pvc pipe with a larger diameter than the loading tube, cut the pipe to hold enough ammo to load the tube, then put plastic caps over the ends. To reload my tube I poped off the cap on the end of the pipe, then dumped the ammo into the tube:cool:.


Wow...thats some nice work!

When I was a kid, I only had a Marlin tube fed. I made speed loaders for it.
What I did was find pvc pipe with a larger diameter than the loading tube, cut the pipe to hold enough ammo to load the tube, then put plastic caps over the ends. To reload my tube I poped off the cap on the end of the pipe, then dumped the ammo into the tube:cool:.
Do you have a pic of one by any chance? :D Thinking about making me one, could get one from cabelas for $20 though...http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/vertical-item.jhtml?id=0012788222343a&navAction=jump&navCount=2&indexId=cat20807&podId=0012788&catalogCode=IE&parentId=cat20807&parentType=index&rid=&cmCat=MainCatcat20712&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.2_A&_DAV=http%3A%2F%2Fa1460.g.akamai.net%2Ff%2F1460%2F 1339%2F6h%2Fwww.cabelas.com%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fconte nt%2FPod%2F01%2F27%2F88%2Fp012788ii02.jpg&hasJS=true
-9r

Two thoughts:

I don't remember who made it, but there was a gizmo advertised a few years ago that was a "speedloader" of sorts for tube mags. It held six tubes in a larger cylinder, to use it you pulled the tube from your rifle, pointed the tip of this doodad into the opening, and gravity-fed the rounds in, probably took about two seconds. Push your feed rod back in, chamber a round, and you're ready to go again. Might have been made by Ram-line or Choate Mfg., I don't remember.

As for clip fed guns, I know everyone on the planet has a 10/22, but there's a good reason for that....they work! My last one was the most accurate semi-auto I've ever seen, it put expensive bolt-actions to shame. And as far as designs go, it is highly doubtful Bill Ruger's Rotary ten-round magazine will ever be beaten for simplicity, ease of use and reliability. He built a better mousetrap, and the numbers of 10/22's in use today is staggering. Were it me, I'd get the 10/22 in a thumbhole stock, stainless steel, and a good 4X scope, and start testing ammo!

Good luck with your quest, let us know who wins!

PJ the Forgetful