Learn Me Marlin Model 60

Long story short, I inherited a Marlin Model 60 a few minutes ago. I think it's from the early 70s, and it still has the full length magazine tube. It's in perfect shape.

So, how's it work? It shoots .22LR, right? How often and how should I clean it? Any other tips?

Tommy Suddard wrote: Long story short, I inherited a Marlin Model 60 a few minutes ago. I think it's from the early 70s, and it still has the full length magazine tube. It's in perfect shape.

So, how's it work?

Pull the trigger and it makes a small hole in whatever you point it at.

It shoots .22LR, right?

Yep. Buy a big box of the cheap stuff and some smaller boxes of the good stuff. Get a few different velocities and weights (Wal Mart actually usually has a decent selection of .22). Many .22s will prefer one type of ammo over another (smaller groups, more consistent ejections, etc.) so try sample groups of the different stuff to see what it likes.

How often and how should I clean it?

Whenever you shoot it. Buy a cleaning kit and some Break Free Powder Blast. Basically you're looking to get out all the burnt powder and bullet dust from the barrel, and the carbon from the bullet path. Some dental picks will help. Rimfire guns can get some buildup where the striker hits the cartridge, so that's where the dental pick can some in handy. Store it well oiled on a rack in the back window of your pickup.

Any other tips?

Don't shoot your eye out.

It's a solid gun, and a good first .22. Try to resist the temptation to take it apart too thoroughly if it's working well. There's not much you can do in the way of improvements via "tuning" without some specialized stuff.

jg

Ahh, and a pdf of the manual is available on their website:

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/selfloading/60.asp

jg

The old Marlin .22 rifles are known for their accuracy, I have a Model 80 from the early 60's that will pop an aspirin at 25 yards with ease using the iron sigthts and out at 50 yards 5 shots will be covered with a nickel

Be very careful if you use metal dental picks in cleaning anything on the rifle as you can actually cause damage. There are polymer pick sets that you can get specifically for cleaning guns that are fairly inexpensive and I would highly recommend. There are just to many surfaces on rifles that you do not want to have scratches in.

Buy yourself a brick of ammo and go out and have fun but stay safe. Is this your first rifle?

You'll shoot your eye out kid.

rebelgtp wrote: Buy yourself a brick of ammo and go out and have fun but stay safe. Is this your first rifle?

Well, it's my first real rifle. I've had countless air rifles since I was 10 years old, and I've always hung around my Grandpa and his guns. We've got a 1926 Model 12, a WW2 German training rifle in .22, an old 219 zipper (can you still find ammo for those?), an M1 carbine, and a 16 gauge shotgun from a little gunmaker in MA. My parents ask me what guns are in the gun case, and my dad wants me to teach him how to clean a gun tomorrow.

I've got boatloads of cleaning supplies from Grandpa, and I know how to clean a gun. I was mainly just wondering about disassembly, and JG's link told me all I wanted to know.

I picked up a brick of .22 LR a few minutes ago, and dad and I are going to the range tomorrow with the .22, the M1, and the shotgun.

I like to use the metal pick thing that comes in a SKS/AK cleaning gizmo. That thing is just the right size/shape for cleaning guns.

Teach your dad well. When the zombies come, you'll need backup.

Word of advice: Be VERY careful with the recoil spring when you reassemble the gun after cleaning. That's the really long one and its super easy to kink. Good news is that it only costs like $7 for a new one. If you have a gun vise or someone to hold the barrel when you slide the bolt (?) in and then use two hands to keep the spring from kinking its much easier. If it does kink, its not the end of the world, your gun just won't cycle ammo consistently and will sometimes jam.

I bought one decades ago when Target still sold guns (ca 1980). It's still running well.

Read this: Owner's Manual

You could put a scope on it, or make a subcaliber trainer with military sights with Tech Sights and a good sling.

If you want to get a scope for it Sportsmans Guide has a good deal on the BSA Sweet .22. It is last years model so it costs about $50 vs $100+ for this years. Decent little 22 scope with swapable turrets geared to different common bullet weights.

We've got a 1926 Model 12, a WW2 German training rifle in .22, an old 219 zipper (can you still find ammo for those?), an M1 carbine, and a 16 gauge shotgun from a little gunmaker in MA.

I don't know of anyone who makes factory 219 ammo any more, but you can buy the dies and brass to load your own. Prolly easier to buy the components and have somebody you trust load it for you.

old west scrounger to the rescue.

http://www.ows-ammo.com/catalog/product_info.php/products_id/177

219 Zipper @ $40 for 20. Ouch $2 a pop.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/zipper.htm

Anyway, I don't own a model 60, but from what I have read on the gun boards, you need to put some work into a 10/22 to get it close to where the model 60 shoots right out of the box. Thats just the impression i get from the interwebs.

Shooting at the range, civil war reenacting, and fishing were the best times I ever had with my dad. Funny how 2 out of the 3 things invovled guns and he's a mega hippie and the 3rd involved killing fish. Weird now that I think about it.

In reply to ignorant:

Yeah my dad and I were the same way when I was a kid the first real activity we did together was go camping and shooting. I got my first gun when I was 5 or 6 and it was a Chipmunk bolt action single shot .22. We also use to go to gun shows and the like just about every other weekend.

Later on the bonding was over cars like him teaching me to drive when I was 12 and later working on the Camaro.

Is that the .22 trainer for the 98K? I fired one of those things years ago, and it was super accurate. That's a great shooting .22. I'll have to look for one someday.

Well, we went to the range, and it was a blast. Most importantly though, the Marlin worked flawlessly and was accurate.

Now though, my mom wants to try wabbit hunting. How do you hunt wabbits in the Ocala National forest?

I've always heard you walk along until you scare one, whistle, then shoot it. Is that right?

If my understanding is correct, you have to be vewwy, vewwy qwwiett when hunting wabbits.

The big question would be what do you do if he isn't all the way dead. At that point you owe him a dignified end. Maybe go out with an experienced hunter once of twice to learn the ropes.

Personally, I ain't got the stomach to shoot animals with anything stouter than a 300mm (lens). The only way I'd take down an animal is if they threatened me or my family, or were needed to provide food for me or my family.

Having said that hippy crap, I have nothing against hunting when done properly and with respect. Know your safety prodecures. Know what you're going after, and how removing one from the ecosystem will affect that ecosystem. Basically, you are entering a system and intending to change that system. The responsibility is on you to determine the extent of that change before taking that first shot. Once you're comfortable with where you fit, blast away.

jg