Remington 597 or Marlin Model 60

The scopes that come w/ either leave a lot to be desired..
( read that dont bother w/ them ) The Marlin certainly has
a robust following while the 597 arent as vocal. Feeding
problems w/ the 597 may or may not have been resolved
depending on who you listen to. The Marlin seems to be less
finicky if you find the ammo it likes. A ruger 10/22 has
plently of options but can be costly. Some posts indicate they
arent worth the money, but I'm sure they are plenty that would say it is.
Your choice...I dont happen to like the stock on the 597.
I bought the Marlin... Very happy so far. I replaced the scope
that came w/ it w/ an old Tasco rifle scope. Big difference.
I like it.......a lot.

The marlin 60 is the best selling .22 of all time for a reason. Do you want to buy a gun thats good to go, or have to double the price to compete with similar designs?

Buy a Marlin 60, great .22lr

Both are fine rifles for what they are. The M60 is an old standard; you can pick them up at pawn shops for about $50. The Remmys tend to bring about double that.

That said, I prefer the 597 for what I consider a rather important reason - SAFETY. I am anti-tube fed loaded from the front magazine. By design you have to sweep the muzzle with your hand and are also very likely to manipulate the rifle in unsafe ways just to reload it. Couple that with no bolt hold open on last round fired, and you have a potentially dangerous situation. It could still have a round in the chamber when you go to reload it as bolt closed is a normal state whether it has a round in it or not. Granted it does has a manual bolt holdopen device, but you still have to actuate it. The tube feds teach bad habits to new shooters IMO.

It is also much easier to totally clear a bottom mag fed autoloader 22 - just pull out the magazine and pop the live round out. People with tube feds at ranges tend to want to leave the rounds in the magazine during a cease fire if they were not done shooting when a cease fire is called, or at least this situation is much more likely to occur with a tube fed.

For those reasons, I'd buy a 597 or Ruger 10/22 bottom magazine fed over the M60.

NineHotel said:

I am anti-tube fed loaded from the front magazine. By design you have to sweep the muzzle with your hand and are also very likely to manipulate the rifle in unsafe ways just to reload it. Couple that with no bolt hold open on last round fired, and you have a potentially dangerous situation.

Click to expand...

100% incorrect. ALL new marlins have a last shot bolt hold open, have for maybe 10 years if what I'm told is correct. You do NOT load the tube magazine from the top of the barrel, you load it from a slot cut in the magazine tune about 2-3 inches atleast behind the rear sight. You dont muzzle sweep your hand, not at all. As for easier to clear, whats easier than just letting the ammo slide right back out've the magazine tube and cyling the bolt twice? Its no more or less difficult to clear than any shotgun with a tube magazine.


NineHotel I've got to wonder if you've ever owned much less shot a Marlin-60. I've got a very old "Western Auto parts" model from the beginning of the run, and though it doesnt have a last round bolt hold open you load it in the exact same manner as a modern .22LR. Yes you have to put the plunger in place, however unless your blind its quite easy to keep from muzzlesweeping your hand.


The marlin 60 is plenty safe, no reason to be all sour grapes because the 597 aint reliable.

Yes I own one and yes I have shot it and Yes I have watched others attempt to load it. If you examine the procedure to load it, not just where the port is, you'll see my point.

The knurled nut you turn to release the tube is just below the muzzle, then the tube must be extended approx. 15 inches PAST THE MUZZLE. As the human hand is rather large and the tube is attached to the bottom of the barrel directly, when you pull the tube out your hand is in front of the muzzle.

The next move this rifle lends itself to during loading if there is no bench to lay it on is holding it between your knees while holding the tube out with one hand and trying to put rounds in with the other, or cradling the rifle upside down in your weakhand arm pointed off to the side.

I'm wondering if YOU'VE ever shot one. How you can dispute the muzzle sweep when pulling the tube out is beyond me, Mr.100% wrong.

NineHotel said:

Yes I own one and yes I have shot it and Yes I have watched others attempt to load it. If you examine the procedure to load it, not just where the port is, you'll see my point.

The knurled nut you turn to release the tube is just below the muzzle, then the tube must be extended approx. 15 inches PAST THE MUZZLE. As the human hand is rather large and the tube is attached to the bottom of the barrel directly, when you pull the tube out your hand is in front of the muzzle.

The next move this rifle lends itself to during loading if there is no bench to lay it on is holding it between your knees while holding the tube out with one hand and trying to put rounds in with the other, or cradling the rifle upside down in your weakhand arm pointed off to the side.

I'm wondering if YOU'VE ever shot one. How you can dispute the muzzle sweep when pulling the tube out is beyond me, Mr.100% wrong.

Click to expand...

My paws stay south of the barrel, and just feed it upward. I return the plunger with my hand on the base in a similar manner. I dont hold onto the top of the plunger to remove it.

EDIT: Even if I did just throw my hand out infront of the barrel, with the bolt locked back how is this an issue? Its 100% empty, I've alredy checked it before lowering the rifle in the first place. Its no different than any blackpowder rifle. The rifle is innert. The Marlin 60 outsells everything else by a fair margin and you dont see alot've folks out there with hands that've been blown apart. You cannot always follow the rules, I dont WANT to blow a hole in my roof but all my rifles are pointing in that direction.

Marlin 60 all the way. It was my first rifle and is still my only .22 LR. I have shot and hunted with many others including 10/22's, but my Marlin is tried and true. I will never get rid of it. The 597 has been known for extraction and ejection problems that can be fixed with a couple of replacement parts, but I think I will stick to my 60. Good luck with your decision.

I have no experience with the Remington, but I do have a Marlin 60SS:


Photo taken from www.marlinfirearms.com

I love the weight and feel of the laminated stock. I think it's a beautiful gun. Feeds, shoots and ejects excellently. I couldn't be happier with this gun.

The tube feed issue seems to be a weak arguement at
best for dissing the Marlin. To be quite honest, I've never even heard of this being an issue. Maybe we have a lawyer in our midst.
Seriously, I just loaded and unloaded my 60. If the trigger
were somehow pulled at exactly the right time, I might have
powder burns on my index fingerand thumb but thats about it.
MUCH PREFERABLE than having the weapon pointed in a more vital area, dont you think ?? Maybe its actually a saftey
device instead. I happen to have the slot at eye height which keeps all my vital organs safe since the barrel is above my head. For anyone who doesnt hold it up in the air, well my
friends let the laws of gravity assist you in loading .....

They're both good. I bought my first 597 because I liked the open sights better, and I much prefer the flush fitting removeable magazine. I bought another one (LS-HB)to scope because I was very happy with the first one. Neither have feeding issues with the ammo I use (minimags).

A friend of mine bought the Marlin, and as much as I hate to admit it, it was a bit more accurate than either of my 597s, and not picky about ammo. Interestingly enough, he recently sold it and bought a 597 LS-HB because he liked mine better .

Get a Marlin 7000. Mag fed with a bull barrel.

Everytime i look at the 597 in my closet I hit myself for not spending an extra $20 on a 10/22. It is unrelible, poorly made, and as an American I am ashamed that it bears the Remington logo. Its an older model though so maybe they are better now, but if I had to go back id rather have a shoebox full of Jennings J-22s instead, at least that way id have a couple of guns that didnt work properly rather than just the one. I will say that it is very accurate when it actually manages to fire (assuming that you arent already trembling with frustration while your shooting).

Marlin Model 60.

As for the safety issue when loading the tube, I've never had a problem.
The Model 60 has an additional safety feature that allows you to hold the bolt back even if there are rounds in the magazine tube.

Pull the charging handle back (if there is a round chambered it will be ejected), push the handle to the left into the reciever. There's a notch where the the charging handle fits to hold the bolt back while the gun is loaded.

I don't top off personally. I reload when its empty. If I did need to top off I'd put the safety on, lock the bolt back and go from there. No worries.

Marlin does offer a synthetic stocked, blued version but its an odd critter. AFIK, they build Model 60's for chain sporting goods stores that are pretty much made up of leftover parts. I picked up a 60FS from Dunhams a few years ago. Blued, synthetic stock and Williams Fire Sights (hence the FS). The price was $119 and only sold at stores like Dunhams, Sports Authority, Dicks, and the like. I've yet to see the 60FS in a catalog, on line, or in a gun shop.

Good luck and keep us posted,
Chris

The 597 SUCKS, unless you get the new metal magazines.
The original plastic mags are CRAP and remington won't replace them.

The tube Marlin's have the capacity advantage but I still don't like them.My 597 is great and my original plastic mags have given me no issues.

Marlin!

The 597 is probably the only gun purchase I've ever regretted.

I love my Model 60, bought new in 1982 with proceeds from mowing lawns. My first rifle. I still have all my fingers and hands, so I think the tube fed safety issue mentioned above is a load of bunk. I guess all those Marlin 39A's, Winchester lever actions, etc. are just accidents waiting to happen, eh?

Tube feeding makes for a slimmer rifle, and you won't be losing any magazines, or have mag feeding issues with a tube feed. Reloads are slower, but capacity is higher. I'd highly recommend a Model 60.

I have 2 Marlin 60s, They are a ton'o'fun. Personally I bought these because of the tube feed, I got tired of having to sort and keep track of so many different magazines from my other guns. As with any gun, I make the effort to learn safe handling procedures, If you don't care about safety you can't be pointing fingers

I owned a Marlin 60 for 12 years before I sold it. For the price it is an excellent .22 rifle. Mine would shoot better than my youngest brother's Ruger 10/22. I like the Remington 597. Another brother has the 597. It feels more like a solid rifle with good sights. Bought a Marlin 795 last year instead because it was smaller for my son to handle compared to the other 3, and I'm happy with it. If it were strickly for me, I would have gotten a Rem. 597. The Marlin 60 will save $$ by not needing to purchase extra magazines. The metal 597 mags are cheaper price wise than those for the 10/22 or 795.

10/22's are wwwaaaaaayyyyyyyy overrated.