Whoa! Marlin 60DL is accurate!

[P. Plainsman]

Rifle novice, nobody's idea of a crack shot. Love my Marlin 1894C w/ ghost ring sights, wanted a .22 auto.

Chewed on the ancient riddle, "10/22 or 60?" for a couple of weeks, then threw up hands, drove to the local gun mart and picked out a Marlin 60DL (with the rich, Corinthian Walnutone[tm] stock ) and a $35 Tasco red dot scope.

Well! Turns out you can do creditable work with a sub-$200 rimfire setup. Once sighted in with the red dot I could keep 'em all in the 9-ring at 50 yards; I'm sure I can better that with a bit more patience and trigger control. Frankly, I'm not used to shooting anything this well. Am now genuinely good to go on squirrels out to 50. That's at least double what I could do with my Buck Mark pistol, so the little Marlin is, how you say, empowering. Believe I could paint a smiley face on the bullseye at 25. A project for the next range trip.

It's a handy, solid-feeling gun. Too early to weigh in on reliability, of course (the one issue that seems to dog the 60); I've put 200 rounds through it in the past several days with no problems, as it should be. Reckon it's due for the first cleaning tonight. I must admit, the cleaning instructions appear a pain. I've printed out P95Carry's "Marlin 60 takedown" thread (http://www.thehighroad.org/printthread.php?t=86314) and expect it to come in handy.

Nothing else to report; just that it's fun to hit stuff.

 

[DMK]

The '60 often gets a bad rap, but it's a great gun that is more accurate than it deserves to be for the price. My dad has had one for years and I always loved shooting it. About a year ago, I picked up a used one myself and put a 4x scope on it. It's a ball to shoot and is so light. The action does get a little gummed up when shooing dirty ammo, but I've found that if you oil it just enough to keep it from rusting then wipe it dry, it will run just fine.

 

[RoyG]

I put a Simmons 22 mag on mine. Bass Pro Shop has them on clearance for around $33.

CDNN has them for 20 bucks right now.

 

[RoyG]

FYI... this puts the Model 60 and a scope under 150 bucks!!!

The 60 does not have the aftermarket stuff the 10/22 does but sometimes it's nice to have a goto gun.

And a gun you can introduce someone to shooting they can leave the range and purchase almost anywhere in the country.

 

[Big D]

The only thing I fear about tearin a 60 down is that when i put it back together that it will start jammin on me. I've nvr really had too many so called "jams", maybe a FTF, back shell, or the case would get caught btw. the bolt and the receiver, but just a few times.