Marlin 795 for Steel Challenge

Every firearms owner I know has at least one 22 long rifle in their gun safe, I know a few that have upwards of 12. Currently there are offering from all the major brands, some with a ton of upgrade options available and some with very few. Today we are looking at the Marlin 795, specifically for Steel Challenge.

One of the things that you need for steel challenge is 5 or more magazines, the Marlin really shines in this as you can get the magazines for around 10 dollars each thru www.grabagun.com and they are the nice nickel ones. For steel challenge you need a reliable light 22 with either iron sights or a optic. For this review, we will be covering iron sights as they are a quick and cheap way of getting into the steel challenge game. I shot my first match with this rifle stock, and it handled extremely fast and accurate. I noticed right away that the sights just where not going to cut it for this kind of shooting. That first match the rifle ran flawlessly.

Before the next match I decided that there was a few things that needed to be changed, mostly due to personal preference. I ordered and installed a MCarbo trigger spring set($30) and a DIP trigger guard with adjustable trigger ($67). To take care of the sights I ordered a set of Williams Fire sights ($25). They simple changes made a big difference and are what I would consider a must for anyone wanting to speed shoot. Can you do Steel Challenge with a stock Marlin 795? Most certainly, but these few small changes make a big difference. Now I know some of you are doing the math in your head right now, yes that almost the same amount in upgrades as the 149 dollar price of this handy little 22. About the only one of these that I would say is a must is the Fire Sights, the stock sights are just too hard to see with the rapid transitions.

Williams Gun Sights, Rear Fire Sight

Williams Gun sights, Front Fire Sight

Overall this makes for a perfect rifle to shoot steel challenge, yes, its affordable, no, there isn’t much for other upgrades other than a stock. If you’re looking for something that will work great and don’t want to do many changes to the rifle, go with the Marlin, otherwise you might want to look at the Ruger 10/22 where upgrades are unlimited.