Ford vs. Chevy is an apt comparison: neither company is perfect, but only one of them required a huge amount of cash to be poured into it to keep it going.
I owned both. I sold the 10/22. Out of the box, I believe the Marlin 60 is a better gun. Mine definitely is. (Over time, I have acquired a few other .22s, all "higher-end" than either a stock 10/22 or a Marlin 60, but I still like that Marlin 60. It's a great little gun, despite it being about the cheapest firearm on the US market.)
A stock 10/22 isn't set up for a proper cheek weld with a scope. A stock Marlin 60 is. My stock 10/22 didn't shoot worth a hill of beans; my stock Marlin shoots MOA 5-shot groups with Mini-Mags -- so a scope on the 10/22 was sort of a moot point. Furthermore, my 10/22 was unreliable. There's a reason for all those little aftermarket parts like a replacement extractor: the factory gun leaves a lot to be desired.
Now some people get lucky and have 10/22s that are better than mine was, shoot straighter, can be trusted go through a whole 10-round magazine without a jam, whatever. But mine was plain annoying. Given that the things cost more than ever, I sure wouldn't buy one new, today, because I'd know that I'd be putting a bunch of parts in it right away, to make it a satisfactory rifle.
hub has it about right on the pros and cons.
One more thing to note: every new Marlin 60 with a wood stock has a laminate stock, even if it's not stripe-stained. I believe the camo version has the laminate stock, with camo screened over it. The Marlin's trigger can be given a home trigger job easily, for free, though mine hasn't needed it. I don't mind a trigger that isn't target-light, since I use it for walking-around varmint hunting more than anything else.
For iron-sight shooting, I have other .22s I prefer for the fun-factor. But if you want to put shots on target for cheap, the Marlin 60 is hard to beat. It's definitely my go-to .22 field gun, with a 4X32mm Nikon scope on it, a great scope for $100 including rings.
If you want to be try your hand at custom rifle building, and you don't care about pouring money into a .22 rifle, get a 10/22. If I ever buy another one, it would only be so I can customize it -- and I probably won't ever buy another one. I'd rather buy an Anschutz bolt with that money -- or a CZ for a lot less -- and have a better rifle for accuracy shooting. With expensive target ammo, semiauto is just a cleaning hassle, whereas a bolt is a pleasure to maintain. You're not going to put 500 rounds through it in an hour, anyway.
If I ever get into competition that requires a .22 semiauto, I'm with Uncle Mike 100%:
It's based on the 10/22 design, but built right to start with. All told, you get more for your money than if you buy a Ruger and add everything yourself.
One more note, re someone who has a 30-year-old 10/22 that has always worked well. I'm not surprised. The old ones I've played with seem to be more reliable and perhaps more accurate on average. Objectively, the recent ones, with painted receivers and now with plastic trigger groups, are not built to the same standards as the old anodized, walnut-stocked guns.
I owned both. I sold the 10/22. Out of the box, I believe the Marlin 60 is a better gun. Mine definitely is. (Over time, I have acquired a few other .22s, all "higher-end" than either a stock 10/22 or a Marlin 60, but I still like that Marlin 60. It's a great little gun, despite it being about the cheapest firearm on the US market.)
A stock 10/22 isn't set up for a proper cheek weld with a scope. A stock Marlin 60 is. My stock 10/22 didn't shoot worth a hill of beans; my stock Marlin shoots MOA 5-shot groups with Mini-Mags -- so a scope on the 10/22 was sort of a moot point. Furthermore, my 10/22 was unreliable. There's a reason for all those little aftermarket parts like a replacement extractor: the factory gun leaves a lot to be desired.
Now some people get lucky and have 10/22s that are better than mine was, shoot straighter, can be trusted go through a whole 10-round magazine without a jam, whatever. But mine was plain annoying. Given that the things cost more than ever, I sure wouldn't buy one new, today, because I'd know that I'd be putting a bunch of parts in it right away, to make it a satisfactory rifle.
hub has it about right on the pros and cons.
One more thing to note: every new Marlin 60 with a wood stock has a laminate stock, even if it's not stripe-stained. I believe the camo version has the laminate stock, with camo screened over it. The Marlin's trigger can be given a home trigger job easily, for free, though mine hasn't needed it. I don't mind a trigger that isn't target-light, since I use it for walking-around varmint hunting more than anything else.
For iron-sight shooting, I have other .22s I prefer for the fun-factor. But if you want to put shots on target for cheap, the Marlin 60 is hard to beat. It's definitely my go-to .22 field gun, with a 4X32mm Nikon scope on it, a great scope for $100 including rings.
If you want to be try your hand at custom rifle building, and you don't care about pouring money into a .22 rifle, get a 10/22. If I ever buy another one, it would only be so I can customize it -- and I probably won't ever buy another one. I'd rather buy an Anschutz bolt with that money -- or a CZ for a lot less -- and have a better rifle for accuracy shooting. With expensive target ammo, semiauto is just a cleaning hassle, whereas a bolt is a pleasure to maintain. You're not going to put 500 rounds through it in an hour, anyway.
If I ever get into competition that requires a .22 semiauto, I'm with Uncle Mike 100%:
It's based on the 10/22 design, but built right to start with. All told, you get more for your money than if you buy a Ruger and add everything yourself.
One more note, re someone who has a 30-year-old 10/22 that has always worked well. I'm not surprised. The old ones I've played with seem to be more reliable and perhaps more accurate on average. Objectively, the recent ones, with painted receivers and now with plastic trigger groups, are not built to the same standards as the old anodized, walnut-stocked guns.
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