More Remington Golden Bullet woes with my Marlin 60

[ijosef]

I had a thread awhile ago on a new (to me) Marlin model 60. It seemed to eat almost all cheap bulk .22LR without many issues.

I got another Model 60 ($85 OTD used with decent scope, I couldn't pass it up) and it's been having issues.

I was having misfires every four to five rounds with the Rem Golden Bullet ammo. It seems that the better stuff was on top, and as I got deeper into the box, the ammo started to suck more. The firing pin was striking fine, so the ammo just sucked.

The ammo also jammed a lot. I thought something might be with the gun at first, because it would try to push the round into the chamber but end up literally bending the bullet at the end of the round and jamming.

I tried some cheap Winchester bulk ammo and the gun ran without a hitch even under rapid fire. So, do you think the gun could be tuned up so not to jam or is it just the Rem ammo (my other Marlin 60 chambered it just fine)?

I've posted a pic of what the one gun does to rounds when it tries to push them into the barrel. Is the Rem Golden Bullet stuff softer than other bulk ammo? The Winchester and Federal bulk doesn't seem to be as malleable.

Either way, we're going to need a "Remington Golden Bullet .22LR Woes" subforum before long.

 

[MCgunner]

When the patient said "doc, it hurts when I do this" the doc says "well, don't do that". IOW, use the ammo the gun likes. Every gun seems to be different in my experience. I've never found Remington all that great. Thunderbolt just plain sucks. I like the Federal bulk pack, works in most of my guns. A couple will misfire with it, not really well primed. Those guns prefer CCI. CCI always seems like a good choice, but I buy a lot of Federal cause it's cheap plinking ammo and works in the guns I shoot the most.

 

[Ignition Override]

That exact ammo is the only type which often cause very irritating, frequent gas blowbacks in the old Savage.
Some handfuls of this cause one out of three or so.

None with Federal, Winchester etc. Will trade this 'golden' ammo for another type at 2/3 value in the Memphis area.

 

[Davek1977]

I was having misfires every four to five rounds with the Rem Golden Bullet ammo. It seems that the better stuff was on top, and as I got deeper into the box, the ammo started to suck more. The firing pin was striking fine, so the ammo just sucked

A couple of things jump out at me. First of all, Golden Bullets (and remington .22 ammo in general) is known as fairly dirty ammo with somewhat poor quality control. Your problems are not unique. The best piece of advice I can give you is to simply steer clear of the ammo, because if it doesn't work, and all other ammo seems to, its obvioously not a gun issue. I honestly don't think the ammo "got worse" as you went through the box however. A much more reasonable explanation would be that the gun simply got dirtier the more you fired the Remington ammo in it, so the deeper you got into the box, the more problems your gun was having. Like I said, Golden Bullets aren't known as the cleanest ammo, and the fouling from the ammo likely explains some of your issues. I suggest cleaning the action and chamber of your rifle as throughly as possible, and testing it again using a few different kinds of ammo. I think, however, the bulk of your problems will go away with a cleaning and ammo switch. Some guns simply don't like certain ammo. I have a Buckmark that eats everything...expect the ultra common 510 load from Federal. I cannot get through an entire magaine without have multiple issues. However, so long as I avoid that one particular load, I'm gerneally good to go

 

[frogomatic]

my marlin 60, hates those cheap rem gold crap things too. they're dirty as hell, and have given me nothing but problems. switch to a little higher quality ammo, and the problem is likely to go away. it did for me anyway.

 

[Marlin 45 carbine]

there's a topic on 'perfectunion' now concerning this very ammo - and it isn't good. evidently Rem's QC has bit the dust on this stuff.

 

[ArmedBear]

Stop shooting garbage, and your guns will stop shooting like garbage.

Federal makes better .22LR. I practice and shoot matches with semiauto pistols, so I go through a lot. I've tried just about all of the stuff, for reliability, accuracy and fouling.

For shotshells, I'm happy with Remington.

 

[berettaprofessor]

It's not the Marlin, it's the Remington...get rid of the crap.

 

[aka108]

After all that is said about Remington bulk Golden Bullets why do people still buy them? They are junk, junk and junk.

 

[SwampWolf]

I use Remington Gold because the stuff is pretty cheap where I live and it works fine in the many rimfires I own. Maybe I should go out and buy a lottery ticket?

 

[Runningman]

After all that is said about Remington bulk Golden Bullets why do people still buy them?

Thank you. I also don't understand why people keep buying this stuff. Remington rimfire ammo has had quality issues for decades nothing has changed.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

After all that is said about Remington bulk Golden Bullets why do people still buy them?

Because some people don't base their decisions to buy things based on what they read on the internet. It doesn't matter what is said about them. What matters is whether they perform well. For me they do. My model 60 likes them just fine. I get a few ftfs out of a 550 pack, but I get about the same with the Winchesters. Haven't tried the Federals, but I wouldn't have a problem trying them. But I've not noticed the Remingtons to be any worse than any other rimfire.

That being said, I do agree that CCI is the cream of the crop.

 

[Z-Michigan]

Golden Bullet is the worst .22 LR ammo I've ever used, even worse than the cheaper Thunderbolt.

The bulk packs of Federal and Winchester .22 are far better in my experience, for about the same price.

 

[ArmedBear]

I have had good luck with Golden Bullets. And I've had bad luck. It seems to vary by the lot. I'll get a box that works great, and a box that barely works at all. I have never had a box that didn't have a misfire, so I wouldn't use it in competition, but some of it has worked. The thing is, I can get other ammo that I trust more, in the same price range, so I don't generally buy the stuff any more.

Be that as it may, if you have trouble with a particular kind of ammo, especially if you know you only bought it because it's really cheap, try something else before screwing with the gun. There are Marlin 60s out there that are broken, but by and large they are reliable rifles, and IME the best of the bunch by a long shot, when it comes to inexpensive semiautos out of the box.

If you have doubts about a gun, clean it, oil it, and shoot some good ammo in it. If it works fine, then the gun isn't the problem. THEN go and see what sort of crap you can feed it.

I've found that Federal Lightning ammo gives me match-grade pistol accuracy (shot 500/34X of a possible 500 last Thursday night in competition) for really cheap. So far, it's been 100% reliable, too. You don't have to pay an arm and a leg to get good ammo, but you do have to test the gun, then test the ammo. Yup, I shoot matches with ammo that costs $1.47 for a box of 50. But I've "kissed a lot of frogs" to find it, so to speak.

Another trick I learned from rapid-fire match shooters: put a drop of CLP on the nose of the first round in the magazine. Cleans and lubes the feed ramp.

 

[Onward Allusion]

I no longer buy Remington Golden whatever anymore. Actually, I don't buy Bulk Remington 22's anymore - period. I still buy the more expensive stuff like their target .22LR and the Vipers but no more bulk for me.

For the last year or so their quality has gone downhill big time. Out of every box of 50 (from a brick) I will get about 5 failure to ignite AND about 2 complete duds out of 100. This is through both semi-autos (which are more finicky in my opinion) AND revolvers!

 

[ArmedBear]

I don't think Remington even makes their target .22LR. Don't they just stamp "Remington" on Eley ammo?

 

[ijosef]

Touche'. There's a thread somewhere around here where I bought all three brands of bulk .22LR (Winchester, Federal, and Remington) and shot them through my then-new-to-me Marlin 60. I did that before I did any research on what bulk .22LR people like. As of now, shooting both of my model 60's, I like the Winchester stuff the best.

So, what should I do with the box of Remington? Maybe I could stoke a big fire in a weber grill and toss her in?

 

[ArmedBear]

The stuff feeds all right in my .22LR AR upper.

Give it to a friend, if nothing else. I've got a couple of lever guns and a couple revolvers in .22LR. They also tend to be more tolerant. Surely someone has one of these.

I've given away stuff to people at the range. If it didn't work for me, they're welcome to try it. Hate to throw away something useful.

 

[JuryRig]

I bought a box several years ago, when I got a 10/22. Worst ammo ever, and from what I've heard it's gotten worse since then. Federal AE is about the same cost, but shoots so much better.