After reading a bunch of threads like this 6 months back I chose the Marlin 60. I was actually kind of repulsed by it when I first handled it. I got it at G.I. Joes, the outdoor sporting goods franchise, so if they have a cheaper finished Wal-mart type model then I'm guessing this is it. I went for it, against my gut, based on all the positive reviews I'd seen and because it was on sale for $140. My negative first impression was mostly based on its size, a plywood stock with a thin, cheap-looking, outer veneer, as thick as paper, reminiscent of a linoleum floor, and because the receiver looked like a hilariously small piece of spray painted aluminum. I even noticed that the rear sight was literally loose.
Anyway, all this initial stuff aside, I love my M60. The rear sight sat solid as a rock after I removed it and bent it slightly to create some tension, the cheap looking stock really doesn't matter to me at all, it works. It didn't help my first impression that mine had a lot of misfires early on. I'd read that you don't really need to clean them much. In the case of my rifle, it came kind of gummed up from the factory and didn't run right until I brushed the internals clean and left it mostly dry. It's run perfectly since then and it wasn't nearly as difficult to take apart as I'd been lead to believe. Be sure to search these forums or rimfire central for the thread where a Mod 60 is broken down with illustrations, it's very easy as long as you are gentle with the recoil spring.
It's an accurate and handy gun (mines a 16 inch barrel, it's about as long, overall, as an AK). I can pretty easily shoot the caps of bottles within 40 yards but it becomes difficult to make tight groups beyond 100. Maybe it's just the cheap blazer lead or my poor shooting.
I'd say it's a lot of gun for the money paid, and unless you see yourself loading up 10 hi caps for your 10/22 before going to the range, then you might as well save yourself the effort and $ and just have a tube feed. Magazines are too expensive to have a pile of them for each weapon, you don't really need a battle-ready .22 plinker. Aside from adding some sling swivels, you really don't need any accessories for the Mod 60. Looking at the heavy barrel, you can bet that if you saw something like that on a Ruger, it would say "Target" or "Competition" somewhere and cost $100 more. Anyway, thought I would share. Good luck.
