Marlin Model 60 Problems Just Don't Stop

[boom boom]

Darn Gunny, I wish my local gun shops were as well stocked as your arsenal.

Regarding the Remlin Model 60 at issue, have no opinion whether the O/P's particular rifle is or is not functional. Haven't seen it, haven't fired it, just had an oral report about it. Quality can be a bit spotty when companies go into financial distress so it is possible that you got two lemons.

Arguing that all Model 60's are junk is over generalizing. If the rifle design was junk, then it would not have sold so many for so long and outlasted many of its competitor designs. FWIW, I have an old 80's Otasco store brand model 60 that is very accurate with the ammo it likes. It works, sights are typical for when it was originally made but I don't mind open sights and windage. It is not a benchrest firearm but can be surprisingly accurate. It is comparable to the Savage 64 or low end Remingtons more than the accutrigger model you have.

For me, the standard bad semi-auto is the Winchester 190 series-one of the all time worst triggers, spotty functioning, and side of barn accuracy. Too bad it has a beautiful wood stock which is why I still have it.

The major advantage to me of the Ruger 10/22 is the wealth of accessories that you can add to it. However, I would rather shoot a bolt action .22 at that price point.

 

[cdb1]

For me, the standard bad semi-auto is the Winchester 190 series-one of the all time worst triggers, spotty functioning, and side of barn accuracy.

I inherited one from my aunt, it definitely was a POS.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

Get a real Marlin 60 and you will be happy!

 

[cdb1]

I can honestly say in the same situation I’d insist on a new rifle or get a refund and move on down the road. As previously stated if the Model 60 platform was junk there would not have been so many made.

Ten years ago I bought a Ruger 22/45. After about six months I noticed the front sight wasn’t centered but was oriented very slightly to the left. I sent it in twice and Ruger sent it back saying there was nothing wrong. Sent it in a third time and kept calling and moving up the food chain. Someone finally decided I was right and Ruger replaced the barrel. Which meant I had to go through the Form 4473 process again.

I had a bad experience with Ruger which was outside the norm. Your experience with the Model 60 is outside the norm. 22/45’s are good quality as are Model 60’s but occasionally you get a lemon. Happens with Mercedes too.

 

[Picher]

I've owned my last Marlin. There have been too many poorly-made rifles that I've encountered, either in my ownership or with my gun repair business. There are no excuses for having the receiver top of an otherwise fine 39A off-square by a mile, or iron sights set off-angle with the receiver, scope mount screws out of line, or numerous failures to fire or extract, or pump shotguns that fail to lock-up.

Sad to say that quality control over many years seems to be a lost art at Marlin. I've heard that with a change in ownership, things may be better in the future. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me more, shame on me.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

What of your evidence is proof? The ramblings of one online dude? Refuted by comments from a dozen other folks?

The only thing "refuted" was my remark about the receiver. Sorry about that. I am forgetful. Other than that, I've been right, and the "refutation" has mainly been in the form of, "I wuv the Model 60 my daddy bought me at Montgomery Wards when I was seven."

You mistakenly called a fire control assembly the receiver, then stated the 60 doesn’t have a receiver, then provided no proof of anything falling off, and showed your irrational bias by stating parts fell off of your favored Savage...

The Savage is 10 times the gun the Marlin is, and cheaper to boot, once you spring for a real trigger for the Marlin. How many times must I point that out? The dust cover came off because I damaged it, as noted previously.

I'll waste more of my time, repeating repeating repeating myself, listing things that make the Savage better than the Marlin.

1. Heavy milled receiver
2. Barrel attached with nut
3. Can be dry-fired all day without damage
4. Made to fire all types of .22 LR, whereas Marlin says not to use hypervelocity rounds
5. Accu-trigger, as contrasted with Marlin's incredible abortion that was so bad it spawned an aftermarket replacement industry
6. Sling studs
7. Real iron sights, not stamped tin
8. Drilled and tapped for real scope mounts

"Refute" away.

I guess now we'll hear about how people got away with shooting Stingers. We probably won't hear about those who had to have their rifles repaired, because they're not important.

The Marlin 60 is LITERALLY the highest selling firearm in American history, and not by a narrow margin.

Budweiser is the most popular "beer" on earth, and it's not even beer. It's carbonated water with tiny traces of cheap flavoring for fragile souls who fold up under the stress of drinking actual beer. Does popularity equal quality? Madonna's sales dwarf those of Art Tatum and Vladimir Horowitz.

J.C. Penney has sold more suits than Zegna, but I know whose suit I'd wear to a job interview.

maybe you just don’t accept you got a bad one from the factory, and won’t admit you have an irrational bias because of it?

I wonder how many times I'll have to say I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

Maybe I should keep buying them until I get one that works. Then I can join the fan club.

And as I have asked twice here - what is difficult about installing swivel studs in the 60 stock? The answer to this very simple question might be indicative to what we should expect as readers of your review. Some people think it’s almost impossible to change their own tire, but for most folks, it’s not difficult. Maybe that’s the real issue here.

I've written about it before. Go look it up.

If you want to show us an easy, cheap way to install studs WITHOUT attaching anything to the flimsy magazine, go ahead. It would be useful information for anyone who has gotten stuck with a Model 60. When I asked people for solutions, I didn't get any.

My magazine fell out, even without a sling pulling on it. Maybe that's why I managed to fire over a dozen rounds before it failed.

This argument is like a drive with Fred Flintstone. We keep passing the same landmarks over and over.

 

[mgresh]

I understand if you get two lemons from the factory, that is bad. Go ahead and piss and moan. But you also complain about every feature and option (or lack of) that the rifle has/doesn't have. Why in the world did you even buy it? Did you not know anything about it? If you had one that worked, you wouldn't like it anyway. Good grief, move on. It's a $100 rifle.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

The only thing "refuted" was my remark about the receiver. Sorry about that. I am forgetful. Other than that, I've been right, and the "refutation" has mainly been in the form of, "I wuv the Model 60 my daddy bought me at Montgomery Wards when I was seven."



The Savage is 10 times the gun the Marlin is, and cheaper to boot, once you spring for a real trigger for the Marlin. How many times must I point that out? The dust cover came off because I damaged it, as noted previously.

I'll waste more of my time, repeating repeating repeating myself, listing things that make the Savage better than the Marlin.

1. Heavy milled receiver
2. Barrel attached with nut
3. Can be dry-fired all day without damage
4. Made to fire all types of .22 LR, whereas Marlin says not to use hypervelocity rounds
5. Accu-trigger, as contrasted with Marlin's incredible abortion that was so bad it spawned an aftermarket replacement industry
6. Sling studs
7. Real iron sights, not stamped tin
8. Drilled and tapped for real scope mounts

"Refute" away.

I guess now we'll hear about how people got away with shooting Stingers. We probably won't hear about those who had to have their rifles repaired, because they're not important.



Budweiser is the most popular "beer" on earth, and it's not even beer. It's carbonated water with tiny traces of cheap flavoring for fragile souls who fold up under the stress of drinking actual beer. Does popularity equal quality? Madonna's sales dwarf those of Art Tatum and Vladimir Horowitz.

J.C. Penney has sold more suits than Zegna, but I know whose suit I'd wear to a job interview.



I wonder how many times I'll have to say I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

I got TWO bad ones from the factory.

Maybe I should keep buying them until I get one that works. Then I can join the fan club.



I've written about it before. Go look it up.

If you want to show us an easy, cheap way to install studs WITHOUT attaching anything to the flimsy magazine, go ahead. It would be useful information for anyone who has gotten stuck with a Model 60. When I asked people for solutions, I didn't get any.

My magazine fell out, even without a sling pulling on it. Maybe that's why I managed to fire over a dozen rounds before it failed.

This argument is like a drive with Fred Flintstone. We keep passing the same landmarks over and over.

I still don’t understand how some people feel the need to tell everyone about how much they don’t like something or how bad something is.
It seem like you knew very little about the way a Mod. 60 was built before you tried to modify one. Did you ever take a good look at one before buying one? Did you ever think about looking at how a sling would mount on the rifle before buying one? Here is a pic of sling swivel studs on a Mod. 60. The studs set is made by Uncle Mike’s.


And yes, the front stud has to be fitted, but should take the avarge person about 30 min to install.


You keep saying that you have proved that the Marlin is junk, but you haven’t. Other then you just saying what problems you’ve had, you have not posted any pics.
A small pin fell out that holds the mag tube in place doesn’t make it junk, just replace the pin, it’s that simple.
To sum this up. You had a problem with a new Marlin mod 60 and Marlin replaced it at no charge, but since they didn’t tell you what was wrong with the first one, you assume it was not fixable. Maybe Marlin thought you would be happier with a new gun instead of one that was repaired.
Since you don’t know mush about installing sling swivel studs on a stock, you call the stock junk.
You are the one that asked the question in your first post “Are these guns cursed?” and when members replied, you took the low road with you negative attitude.
Just sell the Marlin and move on. Life is to short to dwell on such small things.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I understand if you get two lemons from the factory, that is bad. Go ahead and piss and moan. But you also complain about every feature and option (or lack of) that the rifle has/doesn't have. Why in the world did you even buy it? Did you not know anything about it? If you had one that worked, you wouldn't like it anyway. Good grief, move on. It's a $100 rifle.

You posted this while I was typing my reply. It made me laugh because, we pretty much said the same thing.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Quite a rant over a "250" dollar gun.

 

[Varminterror]

You three must be determined to ruin my fun! So much opportunity to keep him spinning!!

 

[hdwhit]

steve graham asked:
Are these guns cursed?

Not in my experience.

I learned to shoot on a Marlin 60 back in the 1970's. Never any problems with it until my Father gave it away along with one of "my" Universal M1 Carbines to teach me a lesson.

My now-93 year old Father bought another Marlin 60 back about the time of the Remington acquisition (i.e. circa 2008). He asks me to clean it for him when I visit. And while I was initially shocked at the "invasion" of plastic parts, he says his newer Marlin has never experienced a failure to feed, failure to fire or failure to eject. It doesn't "feel" as accurate as my 1970's vintage Marlin, but laying aside subjective feelings, it will still shoot 4 MOA groups offhand at 100 yards which tells me it is at least as accurate a rifle as I am a shooter.

 

[SwampWolf]

They’re cheaper than they were a few years ago.

They are still cheap because they are, well, still cheap. Cheaply made firearms should not cost as much as a better made gun and the Marlin doesn't disappoint in that equation. After all this time, the old adage still rings true: you generally get about as much as you pay for.

 

[someguy2800]

Hey I’m right there with ya to say the marlin 60 is cheap and crappy but I think it’s time to move on with your life.

 

[Demi-human]

until my Father gave it away along with one of "my" Universal M1 Carbines to teach me a lesson.

Alright. Now my interest is piqued, go on...

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Hey I’m right there with ya to say the marlin 60 is cheap and crappy but I think it’s time to move on with your life.

I did, but people who could not move on kept squawking.

Anyone who buys one of these things will find out what I said is true, so I am leaving it at that.

The cheaper Savage A22 with superior build and features is working out really well. I still have to do some fiddling around with the trigger I modified, but it's a joy to shoot.

Everyone who disagrees, enjoy having the last word. Here is your chance.

 

[armarsh]

Word. I'll buy another 70 whenever I see one. I'll likely have to pay 10 times what I did for the first one.

Mine came with sling swivels. Weird.