Will a Marlin Model 925 fire 22 short or 22 cap Is it possible with a magazine or if manually loaded into the open bolt or is it completely impossible?

Answer 1

The Marlin 925 is a bolt action 22LR rifle with a bottom mount magazine (stock fittment is a 7 round magazine). The magazine is sized for 22LR, not 22 Long or 22 Short (nevermind even the two rounds which are fitted to rifle caps, ball and conical rounds) If you put a 22 Short into the 22LR magazine, it'll FIT, but it won't feed properly, since as the bolt action slides the round forward, ther tip will point down when it gets to the void at the front of the magazine.

This author is unaware of any 22 Short magazines available for the Marlin 925 rifle. Modification of the stock magazine would be probematic, as you'd need to change the follower and the spring if you were to try to insert a block at the front of the magazine.

However, being a bolt action 22, the shorter rounds (22 Long and 22 Short) CAN be successfully inserted into the breech and fired. I keep several boxes of 22 Short onhand for dispatching gophers, opossums, and skunks on my rural property, as they have a much lower report - sounding rather like the hammer fall when dry firing a large pistol. I have fired the 22 Short quite successfully in my Marlin 925R (resin stock, otherwise identical to the 925 and 925C).

I would not advise using a cap round in a rifle - they are intended for pistols and possibly short midway amusement rifles. Also, do not attempt to chamber a 22 magnum in a 22 LR - the firearm is not designed for the increased pressures (or the longer cartridge), and you're only begging for trouble.

As a further point, this author has found that the Federal "Champion" 22LR copper plated 22LR hollow point ammunition is far inferior to the Winchester "golden" (brass plated) hollow point loads. The Winchesters have a more defined hollow point tip, and they fire more consistently, with superior grouping. The 22 Short ammunition I use is also Winchester, but it is not hollow point, merely brass plated round (22 Short High Velocity). Aside from my own experience with them, I also noted on a recent trip to a local outdoor range, a fair number of misfired 22LR spread around three separate lanes -- ALL of it was Federal.

Answer 2

The Marlin Model 925 is specifically designed to fire .22 long rifle ammunition and may not be compatible with .22 short or .22 cap rounds. Attempting to use different ammunition types may result in malfunction or damage to the gun. It is not recommended to manually load incompatible ammunition into the firearm.