I liked the idea of the new Ruger, but I waited until a friend bought one and talked him into letting me shoot it. I did not particularly like it. It did not misfire or fail to fire, but it bothered me the way the magazine (a 32 round Glock) shook and rocked in the small plastic piece that holds it. It looked like a place to fail in the not-to-distant future.
Then I ran across a local Marlin Camp 9 with a Ram-Line folding stock. What I liked about it (other than it is a Marlin and I have owned them since my very first gun, a 39A) is that it had a 2-1/2” to 3” box sticking out the bottom of the action to hold the magazine secure. I decided to look at it more closely. Other than being filthy (which seems to be common with used guns of all types anymore), it looked good to me and we were able to come to an agreement. The guy said that he had changed the recoil springs and buffer a while back. They feel good, but I will probably get replacements of my own.
I did some superficial cleaning and took it to the range. It has an original Marlin 4-round (hunting) magazine, a couple of 20 round and a couple of 30 round aftermarket magazines. Unfortunately, one is Triple-K. I have not had much luck with Triple-K in the past. Firing a total of 50 rounds at 25’, 50’, and 75’ (an indoor range) was uneventful. No failures at any kind. All magazines worked. Accuracy was good. Naturally, the first two distances gave very small groups. The 75’ target opened up a little bit, but still all shots stayed in the black. It was VERY difficult for me to see the sights on the 75’ target. I will need to find a peepsight for the gun. The box extension does support the long magazines much better than the Ruger did (like I thought it would).
After testing it, I happened to find four brand-new 30-round S&W 5906 magazines (which are interchangeable with the Marlin magazines) at the range and was able to buy them at a reasonable price (just a little higher than the lowest prices on the Internet). That way, the aftermarket magazines can be kept as spares instead of depending on them.
Its been a good week so far, and I get to shoot Cowboy Action tomorrow.