Marlin model 60 and hot ammo

[19-3Ben]

I have a friend who is moving into an apartment on her own. She broke her elbow last year and can't really shoot anything with high recoil.
She has some familiarity with guns but not tremendous amounts. She's actually a better shot than I am with my Marlin 981T!!!
I want to get her a model 60 for her HD gun.

My local gun shop has a whole bunch of older Marlin model 60's on the shelves that are pretty inexpensive. I know it's not ideal by any stretch to use a .22lr as an HD gun, but given her limitation, and the ability to practice a lot at the local range (due to price of .22LR ammo), I think it'll be a good gun for her to keep loaded around her place.

So I'm just wondering how these rifles hold up with the hottest .22lr ammo around. Stuff like stingers, velocitor, etc...
Should I expect reliable cycling?
Don't care THAT much about accuracy. Longest distance shot will be 15-20 feet. At that range accuracy differences will be negligible at most!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Yes, the hotter the better for reliability, IIRC. Wears down the gun a bit, but cycles great.

 

[Bezoar]

um have you tried having her shoot any other calibered lever gun? Even a knock off model winchester 1894 doesnt recoil with 44 mag hornady 180 gr xtp. And with blazer aluminum, it does nothing. That would be better as it would have stopping power and practical use down the road, like hunting.

 

[Jeff F]

Don't use the Stingers for defense. I don't know about the other round you mentioned but if its like the stinger its not a good choice either. Stingers are way fast and the bullet they use is a hollow point that really works. On small stuff it almost explodes. On larger stuff it opens up fast and you don't get penetration. For people duty use HV hollow points or HV solids.

 

[Logan5]

All I have to add is that my personal Marlin model 60 (80's vintage) hates CCI stingers, and always hangs up on them. Others might not... no way to tell what the gun will do with a particular brand of ammo other than to take them to the range together.

 

[rangerruck]

no, do not do the hyper vels, you smash up the recoil buffer in the back, and accuracy usually falls way off.
the best to use, if had to , for home defense would be three;
CCi SGB- solid lead chunk designed to break into three pieces upon penetration.
Aguila interceptors- fastest 40 grain bullet on the market, without being lighter,
or in a stinger length case.
Aguila sniper sss 60 grainers- a solid lead, 60 grain chunk of metal. penetration studied with it, and a bunch of other various 22 rounds was interesting;
all the other ammo was trapped in a 16 inch long block of ballistic geletin.
The 60 grainers penetrated all the way through the block, and the bullet was
not found afterwards!!!! awesome.

try to get a 60 with the last shot bolt hold open feature; a little lever sticking out of the rights side of the trigger guard.
If you can get one of these, plus have the feed tube that goes all the way to the end of the bbl, that is the best, because that tube will hold 17 rounds, all mod 60's built since 1989 have the 14 shot tube. only mod 60's made between 85 and 88, were made with the 17 shot tube, and the bolt hold open feature.

 

[Ifishsum]

I think the CCI Velocitor would be a much better choice than the Stingers, it's a full weight bullet that expands, but not near as explosively as the light Stinger. I've used them on large rock chucks and they'll anchor them quickly. They also shoot lots more accurately than Stingers for me.

 

[19-3Ben]

Thank you for the advice all. I really appreciate it.

Bezoar- shooting lever guns is pretty uncomfortable for her. She had a radial head fracture, so the motion used to operate a lever just moves the bones the wrong way. Believe me, if I could have her in an 1894c, I would in a heartbeat.
Although I don't know that I could afford to arm her with a gun like that anyway. The older marlin, at under $80, i could swing.

 

[captainamerica]

I agree with Rangerruck's comments. Also, my Model 70 is a little shorter than my 60 and might work better indoors. And 70's seem to have less jamming issues than 60's. BTW, have you considered a used pump .410 or a 20 gauge as well?

 

[woad_yurt]

Personal, anecdotal evidence:
I have a Marlin 60 and used to have a Glenfield 60 before I sent it to my father. For thousands of rounds, I've almost exclusively shot Velocitors with both. Never a hiccup and both of them are fully functional & dead on accurate to this day.

For shooting bigger things in one's apartment, use solid point bullets. You'll be wanting all of the penetration you can muster up. A hypervelocity solid point 40 gr. bullet would be pretty nasty out of a rifle from 7 feet away.

 

[MIL-DOT]

(QUOTE) "try to get a 60 with the last shot bolt hold open feature; a little lever sticking out of the rights side of the trigger guard.
If you can get one of these, plus have the feed tube that goes all the way to the end of the bbl, that is the best, because that tube will hold 17 rounds, all mod 60's built since 1989 have the 14 shot tube. only mod 60's made between 85 and 88, were made with the 17 shot tube, and the bolt hold open feature. "

Ah,OK, I was wondering why my new 60 has the bolt hold-open feature and the one i played with at wally world didn't.
And on a whim i recently ordered a couple 100 rd. boxes of Aguila sub-sonics 60 gr. bullets, glad to hear they'll work well in ths rifle.

 

[foghornl]

glad to hear they'll work well in this rifle

Do test some of them BEFORE depending on those rounds. They SHOULD work fine, but remember, every .22LR gun and ammo combination is a law unto itself...

A few Cases in point...my Rem Nylon 66 I had as a teenager worked with anything I fed it..Except for the Rem 36-Gr (or so) "Golden Bullet" HP. Was good with the Golden bullet 40-Gr solids, but choked every time on the HP's...Figure that out..a Rem rifle that choked on Rem ammo????? I'm confuse-ed

Ruger 10/22 & MKII pistol choke on Rem Thunderbolts, but my OLD Marlin 99 likes them. Marlin 99 OK with Velocitors, not so good with Stingers. 10/22 best with Stingers, MKII best with Velocitors.

Part of the fun of .22 Rimfire...you get to shoot A BUNCH to find the ammo that works best in THAT gun.

 

[ArmedBear]

And on a whim i recently ordered a couple 100 rd. boxes of Aguila sub-sonics 60 gr. bullets, glad to hear they'll work well in ths rifle.

That's what I'd try, for defense.

Velocitors (40 gr. HP @ 1435fps) feed fine in my Marlin 60, but I think I'd rather have even more weight, less immediate expansion and less noise. Velocitors are oddly loud.

 

[Bezoar]

if you plan on using the aquila sniper sub sonics, be warned that youll have to do some serious work sighitng htem in. They wre designed for a specific twist rate according to the maker. NA dthat twist rate is not common in north american production guns. A 11/22 carbine at 45-60 feet shootsabout 16 inches low and a foot to the side from a steady rest. And they arent really recommended for good feeding in a semi auto, but your experience may be different.

 

[woad_yurt]

Muzzle velocity for Velocitors is 183 ft lbs while those 60 gr. Aguilas are only 120. With a .22, I'd rather go with the more powerful round as there's very little power to begin with.

Note: I've shot the Super Maximums quite a few times with my Model 60 and haven't had any wildly inaccurate results. The only thing I noticed is that they just drop a little more than the Velocitors do way out.

 

[rangerruck]

two things on the Aguila 60s; last dude is right about the twist. they worked in very few of my rifles, they were accurate in my old remmy speedmaster, because it could take short, long, and long rifles. they might not be accurate in your mod 60, so try just a box.
Lastly, the Aguila round starts out subsonic, and because of this, and its very heavy weight, it does not suffer from the windshear, and atmospheric 'brakes' that is commonly put on 22 ammo that starts out super sonic.
So at 100 yds, it is actually going faster, than other 22 rounds, becuase it is carrying so much more momentum that is not being stripped off, as in other
22 rounds. That is why it's penetration is superior.

 

[clone]

The Velocitor works fine with my Marlin 60, but cause's excessive wear on the buffer. The light weight Stingers will probably expand to quickly to reach the vital's.

I would feel fine useing Mini-Mag HV hollow point though.

Remember,....."PRACTICE" trumps all those fancy bullets.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

haveing shot many .22LR brands/types I think you should consider trying Velocitors and MiniMags.

 

[jhco]

i cant get stingers to feed well in mine