Circa 2007 (pre remlin) Marlin 925. Replaced the 7 round magazine with a 10 rounder and a cheap scope. Really like these thick barrels. Not really a 10/22 guy.

Nice. I bought three of those in 2006, one for each of my boys. I gave each one for Christmas on their 10th birthday.

Where did you get the 10 round mags?

That's great. Wish my dad had done that. I already had a half dozen mags for a papoose I picked up a few years ago. I'm assuming they aren't as cheap now.

After your post, I looked around and I'm seeing them from $13-$15, so it isn't too bad. I should pick up a few for stocking stuffers.

Its funny how I came to the decision to go the Marlin route. When I was young, a 336C was my first rifle, so I always had a Marlin soft spot. When my oldest son was about 9yo, we were out at the dirt lot. A friend of mine and I were sighting in a centerfire rifle, and my son and his friend had my 10/22. I looked over after hearing what sounded like automatic fire, and saw one of them mag dumping while the other was loading mags like it was the Alamo.

That is when I decided I wanted my sons to be riflemen first and foremost. I purposely didn't want to get them a bullet-hose for their first gun. I think the Connecticut 925s have a classic 22 look in an age where there aren't many 22s made that way anymore. Nearly full-size with blued steel on wood makes for a keepsake that can be appreciated 100 years from now.

I have a Glenfield 25 that is very similar to that...only difference I can see from the pic is that my magazine is contoured a bit differently. Not sure exactly how old it is...I'd guess 70s or 80s. It's got the JM stamp on the barrel.

My wife calls it the "rug gun", because I bought it back in my younger and stupider days. We had been married a little over a year. She wanted to buy a rug for $100, and I told her we didn't have the money for that. Then the next day, I was at the LGS, and saw the thing listed for $119. Counter guy told me I could have it for $90, so it went home with me. She's since forgiven me (it took a few years, lol) but she's never let me live it down.

My kids and I have had endless hours of fun with that rifle, and it's the gun I taught them all to shoot on. Like you, I didn't want to hand them a bullet hose as their first gun, and that strategy has worked out well. You can't go wrong with a Marlin.

Christmas 1987. My first rifle. A model 25. Looks just like yours except for the different magazine design.

I still have it. And my daughter got a marlin youth single shot two Christmas ago.

Nice- because of the numbers of them produced, Marlin rimfires (and Glenfields) can be had for really low prices, especially at pawn stores that still rely on the blue book to determine value. My first long ever was a model 60 that was amazingly accurate.

The 925's little brother is the 915Y. It's essentially the same rifle but a single shot with a shorter stock and no cutout for a magazine. Marlin made these for the Boy Scouts for summer camp shooting classes, and they have a brass coin with the BSA logo embedded in the left side of the buttstock.

I bought mine refurbished from the factory for a ridiculously low price and had the barrel threaded to accept a suppressor. Lots of fun!