Marlin Model 60 Range Report.

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stchman

stchman

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Hello all.

Took the new Marlin Model 60 out to the range to see what it(or me) could do.

I tried 2 different brands of ammo (Federal Champion and Remington Golden Bullet).

The Federal Champion was the better ammo.

I will admit that the Marlin 60 is a more accurate rifle than a 10/22 in stock form, but they are not nearly as reliable. This rifle is almost as accurate as my 10/22 Tactical. I experienced jam after jam (FTEs) and the inability to strike the primer hard enough to shoot the shell.

I am going to right now attibute this to breaking in. I had a Marlin 60 when I was a kid and remember how much it used to jam up as well.

The setup:
Marlin Model 60
Tasco 3-9x40 scope

The entire setup with scope only set me back $200. All in all a good day at the range. I really hope this rifle is as reliable as my 10/22 Tactical, but Rugers are one of the most reliable firearms makers out there. Maybe the rifle likes different ammo. The group I posted below is the best group in over 200 rounds.

I have included some pics below:

Rifle
Marlin_60.jpg



~1" Group
M60_Group.jpg
 
I did clean it before I shot it. Yes Marlin had a lot of oil in it.

Yes, Remington Golden Bullet is crap, but my 10/22 Tactical chews anything I throw at it. Turns out the 10/22 Tactical gets the best groups with CCI Mini-mags.

I was also getting jams using the Federal Champion ammo as well.

I may try some Mini mags or Winchester Super X.
 
Definitely try CCI Mini-Mags; very accurate and never had a FTF in my 17 year old M60, even after going more than a decade between cleanings.

Every type of Remington ammo I've ever tried, however, has been plagued with misfires.

Federal of various flavors has been more reliable than Rem, with Winchester Dynapoint GTs only having the rare (maybe 1:100) fail-to-fire.
 
Gott shoot it to break it in, a little Johnsons paste wax on the feed throat will help too.
Mine like the mini mags best.
 
when new mine would only cycle stingers. The recoil spring was a little stiff. Try storing that with the bolt held open for a while to ease spring tension.
 
This is my 2nd Marlin 60 and both have been somewhat unreliable.

I know many will disagree with this statement, but I think it is a strength for a firearm to shoot good and cr@ppy ammo. My 10/22s have chewed through any ammo I feed them and ask for seconds.

I should not have to feed a $150 rifle premium ammo. The Marlin 60 was made to be cheap to buy and cheap to shoot.
 
I should not have to feed a $150 rifle premium ammo.
Click to expand...

I agree...but its not like your rifle is refusing anything this side of Eley Match, CCI Green Tag, or Federal GMM.

Some ARs don't like cheap 223/5.56 blasting ammo, some bolt-action rifles won't shoot anything but Gold Medal Match very well, and some autoloading 22LRs can be picky with what they like to eat.

I've had just as many FTFs with Remington rimfire ammo in a 10/22 as I have my M60...so I buy Winchester or Federal bulk packs (normally on the shelf beside the Remington ammo for the same price) or spend a couple extra bucks per 100rds get CCI and don't worry about reliability.
 
for bulk ammo, my Marlin 795 likes the blazer ammo
remmington ammo will jam or ftf
CCI mini-mags are the best
 
I've put a couple thousand rounds through the model 60 I got last year and haven't had any jams yet. I cleaned it carefully first (it was pretty oily) and have only used cheap Federal, Winchester ammo. So far so good. :D

Gave up using Remington 22s in repeating firearms. I use it only in single shots, an old rifle and a Contender. Once it's used up I won't bother getting more.

Jeff
 
I'd stay away from Federal blue box 22 as well. Took some apart and found no priming compound (dud). When they did fire they lacked power. I'm sticking with CCI.
 
This is my 2nd Marlin 60 and both have been somewhat unreliable.

I know many will disagree with this statement, but I think it is a strength for a firearm to shoot good and cr@ppy ammo
Click to expand...
.

i think all 22 rifles are going to be somewhat less reliable than centerfire rifles just by terms of available power to operate the action.

however.

the first brand new rifle i ever bought was a model 60 back when i was about 19 or 20. it had some kind of problem that was causing it to misfeed with almost every single round. noy only was it failing to chamber the next round but it was gouging out 2 good sized holes in the case right behind the bullet, and gunpowder was spilling out of it everywhere.

im sure it was just a defect with that rifle, but still it didnt make a very good first impression of the model 60 as far as i was concerned. i ended up taking it back to walmart and exchanging it plus some cash for an iver johnson u.s. carbine 22 rifle.

the iver johnson was a very accurate rifle (although i was never able to compare it to my model 60 because it wasnt reliable enough to even shoot one group). the op-rod ended up breaking a while after i bought the iver johnson and while it was sent back to the factory for repairs, i bought my 10/22 and have never really needed anything else from a 22 rifle.

i suppose my story could have went a lot differently than it did. if my 1st ever rifle bought had not been such a total piece of junk i might be sitting here typing about the greatness of the 60, but thats just not how it played out for me.

i like marlins, and had a model 39 that i absolutely loved when i wa a kid, but i guess johnny marlin was asleep on the quality control line when mine got shipped out or things might be very different for me.
 
To FlyinBryan:

My first rifle was a Marlin 60 when I was 19 years old and it too failed to extract and stove-piped a lot.

I've never had much in the way of ammo failure with both of my 10/22s. The Remington Golden Bullet was not as accurate as some other brands, but it still does fire. As a matter of fact, both of my 10/22s fired cr@ppy ammo when they were brand new.

I just hope that the Marlin 60 breaks in and becomes a reliable rifle.
 
Don't take this the wrong way, If you really are not satisfied, just send it back for warranty repair.
Click to expand...

If it does not shoot reliably after a few hundred more rounds then that will be my next course of action.
 
I wonder if it has something with the chamber being a bit tight and the extractor being a bit iffy. I have a Ruger .22/45 that is extremely accurate but also has many failures to feed and/or eject.
 
I just hope that the Marlin 60 breaks in and becomes a reliable rifle.
Click to expand...

get some mothers aluminum wheel polish, a tight fitting bore mop, and a coated or carbon fiber cleaning rod and shine that chamber and throat to a mirror like finish and i'd bet my bottom dollar you will see instant improvement.

it doesnt take long with the mothers wheel polish so dont over do it.

ive done it to more than one rimfire chamber with fantastic results (see the pics of my groups with the g.m. barrel)

some other chambers that ive dome this to were on some browning buckmark pistols that i bought (4 of them actually)

i wouldnt say that any of these were really unreliable, but afterwards they all run like a swiss watch.

just press some of the polish into the mop, push it into the bore, and when the mop reaches the chamber work the mop briskly back and forth just a half inch or so. it will only take 30-45 seconds of rapid short strokes in the chamber and throat. then remove the mop and clean it off good (after you do it to one you will want to do it to them all).... then use clean flannel patches on a good tight fitting brass bore jag and clean the remaining polish out of the bore as you would normally clean the bore.

you will be amazed at the results. ive done it to a half dozen or so really tight match chambers that resulted in rifles that were still quarter inch groupers, but squeezed some extreme reliability out of them too.

ive measured headspace and chamber diameter before and after this little trick and actually see no measurable difference. it just makes everything mirror slippery.
 
I've had my Marlin Model 60 for a little over two years now and while it is fairly accurate, it requires regular cleaning. Mine is good for about 300 or 400 rounds and then I start to get lots of FTEs. Then again I usually shoot a mix of Remington Golden Bullet (I inherited a large supply and have been trying to get rid of it) and Winchester 555 so it could be the cheap n' dirty ammo.
 
I bought my daughter a Marlin 60 and we tested every kind of ammo we could find, for hers we found CCI mini-mags to really stand out above the other ammo types. I was a non-believer in differences between ammo brands - until I tested it for myself. Both my 10/22 and her Marlin 60 have brands that really do outperform others in the tests we ran.

One thing I found about her Marlin is it seems to perform dry much better than lubed up. I was pretty shocked but the more I fired it the better it performed so I wiped it all down dry then compared it to lightly lubed and then heavily lubed - now when I clean it I oil it for rust prevention and that's it and she shoots like a champ!

gratz on the purchase, I am sure she will break in for you and she'll be a fine shooting machine! :)
 
I swore off the model 60 back in the early 1980's because of that issue. But about 8 or 10 yrs. ago my Son bought one and like mine it started the jamming thing and mis-fires after only a couple hundred rounds had been put through it. We did a standard barrel/chamber clean on it, but didn't take it completely down and it continued to shoot unreliably. Then one day I got curious as to what might be causing it and discovered it was a direct result of not cleanng the bolt, feed ramp, and biggest cause of all was the back of the chamber exterior where the extractor groves are located. I used a brass tooth brush looking cleaning tool to scrub the extractor groves and that general region of the exterior. I couldn't believe how much lead fouling builds up in those areas. We now have several of those 60's and they are 100% reliable.
FYI, don't ever dry fire any rim fire weapon or it can, and usually will, permanently destroy the rear exterior of the chambber by chipping it, not to mention firing pins getting flattened or broken. Many years ago I experienced constant reliability issues with all rim fire weapons, even B.A.'s and learned it was because I had damaged them by dry firing. I've heard that there a few rim fire weapons that are OK to dry fire, but the model 60 isn't one of them.
 
Hmm, I may have to try looking at the breech.

I thought a Model 60 and 795 were the same besides one is tube the other is magazine fed.

The problem with mine isn't feeding it's extraction.

As far as dry firing, chalk another one up to the 10/22. Ruger give the OK to dry fire it without damage to the breech or firing pin.
 
I have 2 model 60's. The first one I bought in the late 90's. The other is an old Glenfield version that was my Dad's. The only ammunition I have had problems with was Remington Golden bullet. I actually quit using the Remington in my single action .22 revolver because there were so many duds. Lately I have been using Winchester 555 & have had no problems at all.
 
To Jeff56:

Did an inventory and I have ~1500 Remington Golden Bullets and 500 Remington Thunderbolt rounds.

I know the Golden Bullets are cr@ppy, what about the Thunderbolts?
 
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