New Marlin 60 Shoots All Over the Place

[JTHunter]

Stevehgraham - as you are getting a new rifle, I would urge you to take Marlin's advice and scrub that bore with a good brush before you ever shoot it. Put an already fired brass in the chamber and "dry fire" it to check the trigger. If it is "gritty", there may be milling residue (shavings or grit) in the trigger and/or barrel. You might try some carb cleaner spray on the trigger assembly if you don't want to break it down that far. After you clean the barrel and dry it out with a couple of dry patches, take a magnifying glass and look at the crown around the end of the barrel. Look for any burrs, nicks, or "abnormal" appearances at the opening of the muzzle. Anything "out of round" or damaged there will play havoc with your points of impact (POI).
If nothing is observed at the crown and the barrel is clean and dry, try standard velocity ammo first from a good rest. Expect the POI of the first 1-3 shots to spread a bit but they should tighten up as the barrel warms up and settles in. Don't fire it too quickly as you don't want the barrel to get "hot" as that may throw off you POI as well.
Good luck!

 

[Swifty Morgan]

hey that's great I am looking at buyin a marlin 60 in the stainless at Walmart for $40 more than the blued model so is yours as I forgot is it stainless or blued??

Mine is blued. I went old school.

I tried to contact the KAT trigger guy last month, but I didn't get a response.

 

[Jerseykris]

I decided to try it. I thought about how cheap gun buyers are, and I figured no one would give me more for a brand new gun than one that had 100 rounds shot through it ("Come on, man, as soon as it leaves the store, it's USED."), so I cleaned out the barrel and ran some rounds through it.

The original gun was a total piece of crap. I have no idea what was wrong with it. Maybe some stoner on the production line forgot to rifle the barrel. Anyway, it wasn't even accurate by BB gun standards, and I mean that literally, as a person who used to kill songbirds from 50 feet with a BB gun. The replacement gun is much nicer. I'll attach a target.

Given the circumstances, this seems like fine accuracy to me. The trigger is still heinous and arguably criminal, but now I can at least feel comfortable spending money on an upgrade.

The stock on this gun is nicely figured for the price. I did not expect that.

__
I'm glad you decided to stick with the 60, and Marlin made it right for you (paperwork headaches aside)
They really are insanely accurate, and as time goes by, I think it'll become a favorite of yours if you can get over that first impressions hump.

I've never had any problems with my Marlins and I swear by them. I recommended a Marlin 795 (it's the same as the 60 but magazine fed) to a good friend. It was his first Marlin, and he got a nightmare one like yours (I thought he was exaggerating until I tried it myself). He returned it, got the 10/22 instead (which is also a fantastic rifle) and to my knowledge has never bought another Marlin again, no matter how much he likes shooting mine.

 

[BigBL87]

For a trigger upgrade, I highly recommend MCARBO. I put their spring kit and target trigger in my 795, night and day difference. It doesn't get the weight as low as the KAT job, but it smooths it out alot, lightens it into the 4 lb range or so, and takeup can be adjusted to the point where it is basically non-existent.

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I have given up on the KAT because I can't get one. The guy who sells them doesn't respond.

 

[BigBL87]

I have given up on the KAT because I can't get one. The guy who sells them doesn't respond.

Gotcha, I never even tried. The weights people were getting from it were too light for my taste. Nothing wrong with it IMO, just lighter than I care for. The sweet spot for me is in the 4-5 lb range, which the MCARBO kit is perfect for. The kit for the 60 claims to get it down to 3.75 for the 60, FWIW. Here's the kit:

https://www.mcarbo.com/marlin-60-trigger-job-bundle.aspx

If you don't need/want the extra buffer springs or lube, I'd buy the spring kit and trigger seperately and save a few bucks (about $15). That's what I did, figured I'll order some buffer springs later in quantity so didn't need it now and I have gun grease so didn't need the lube.

https://www.mcarbo.com/marlin-60-target-trigger-marlin-795-target-trigger.aspx

https://www.mcarbo.com/store/p/27-Marlin-60-Trigger-Spring-Kit.aspx

 

[Swifty Morgan]

Thanks for taking the time to post those links. I will probably do as you suggest.

 

[BigBL87]

Sorry to add another post, haha, feel like I'm spamming. Anyway, you can get 10% off with the coupon code "MCARBO Reddit 2017" minus the quotation marks. Just found that (tested it myself a couple minutes ago) and thought you'd like saving a little money!

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I learned to shoot rifle with bolt action single shot .22 with slack in trigger take up and over travel after the striker released. I had to learn follow through almost like I was shooting a flintlock (click, whoosh, bang). The stock Marlin 60 trigger was an improvement. Good triggers are too abrupt and put me in the bad habit of pulling the trigger when the sights have settled on the target but not following through (holding steady after the trigger breaks).

 

[Swifty Morgan]

I'm starting to wonder if Remington has a room full of really good Model 60's they give out to people who complain.

The stock on my gun is highly figured, which seems a little odd in a rifle that cost $170.

Today I went out and nailed three squirrels with it, using a rimfire scope. I would guess they were all in the vicinity of 40 yards off. Shot two through the head, and the other got it in the shoulders, just behind the head. He moved as I shot. Or at least that's my story! No one can prove me wrong. Anyway, this gun shoots just fine.

I gave up waiting on a response from the KAT guy. I hope he's not ill or anything. I ordered the MCARBO kit to fix this horrendous trigger. Today I was trying to pull it, and I actually thought the safety was on. I had been shooting a gun with a normal trigger, and when I switched to the Marlin, it seemed ridiculously hard to fire.