Why is the Marlin 60 so accurate?

[Gun lover]

I bought a Marlin Model 60(147.00) On Saturday with a Tasco bucksight scope.(the scope only cost 30 USD).I can't believe the accuracy of this rifle!!!I can shoot groups you can cover with a nickel at 75 yards(with Federal Cheap stuff)!!!I have had problems with Tasco scopes in the past,but with the accuracy of this rifle.I can't believe it!!!!I out shot 4 friends with Ruger 10/22's the other day.Why is the Marlin 60 so accurate?Is it cause the barrel is so large?I am 24 years of age and I feel like I am a kid again with this rifle.I love it.

 

[Limeyfellow]

Most people seem to get good accuracy out of the Marlin 60. Of course the real horror of them is if you have to reassemble the mechanism group. That gave me plenty of tears. I also have lightened the trigger a bit, so my Marlin 60 fires really nicely and going strong after 30 years of use.

 

[quatin]

Mine groups like birdshot past 30 yards.

 

[Gun lover]

Quatin,I'm so sorry to hear that yours don't group that well.But I can't believe that mine can group like a champion(with Federal Cheap stuff).I was shooting across a pond that my friend owns.And I was hitting at least 1 feet or less at 4 hundred yards!!!.I had to aim high of course,but I could not believe it!!!!!!!I can shoot a Nickel size group at 50 yards!!!I have a few hundred rounds of the cci Mini mag ammo that I haven't tried yet.But in the next few day's I will try it.I love this rifle.

 

[CRITGIT]

quatin,
My first gun as a kid was a marlin 99 which later became the 60 I guess!
When my boys were young I got them the 60. After a few months of shooting it I made a discovery that changed everything. By just tweaking the stock screw a little each way I found the groups changed drastically. I finally dialed it in and left it alone. WOW! The most accurate out of the box .22 auto I ever hoped to have shot.
Try it! Like chicken soup ...it can't hurt!

CRITGIT

 

[Fast Frank]

Nobody really knows exactly what it is that makes the model 60 shoot like it does.

When you look at the rifle, the only thing that stands out as being different than everything else is the barrel.

The stock, trigger and action are pretty plain, and don't seem like a special reason for accuracy.

Whatever it is, I like it!

Here's a pic of mine.



And here's a target from last month's postal match here on The High Road.



For the amount of money that a rifle like this costs, it's a serious bargain.

Getting something that will shoot better is going to cost a whole lot more.

 

[Gun lover]

Fast frank,I agree.I bought mine for 147.00 at Walmart.It is the exact same as your's(maybe expect the scope).I can't believe it shoots like a champion.(the only way I can describe it).I love it.I would have no other rifle then this.

 

[JeepGeeek]

is this the Glenridge .22 rifle?

I bought a used one for $150, and put a $20 airgun scope on it, and have had similar results.

Gotta love those Marlins.

EDIT: mines a Model 25, bolt action... and about 40 years old.

 

[22-rimfire]

Glad you like the Marlin. It's good to have happy customers. With Marlins, the rifling is the key to their accuracy.

 

[MCgunner]

Anything compared to a stock 10/22 is more accurate. But, the 10/22 is accurate enough for field uses. If you wanna do competition, you need a competition rifle. The Marlins are accurate for the money, though. I have an old Remington bolt gun that has out-shot many a Marlin in club competitions. On a windless day, it can shoot 1 moa at 100 yards and even cheap federal gives 1.5" at 100 yards. It shoots best with RWS target. Got that old rifle at age 9, so it's 46 years old now. It's taken many a squirrel.

Right now, I don't have a Marlin in the collection. I would pick one up if I come across a good used one. I'm sorta into .22s, affordable fun. You can't have too many. I'd like to pick up a CZ and I'd love to get a high grade Browning some day...just because. The Browning is higher on my want list, but it's expensive, even the grade one. Money will be no object when the time comes. Them's some beautiful little guns.

 

[Shawnee]

I've wondered too why the model 60s are so frequently quite accurate.
Was discussing that with an Amigo who has owned/shot one for years. His gig is shooting wooden discs the size of poker chips at 50 or 75 yards (with factory sights). He offered the opinion that the stock on the 60 seems to be a contributing factor. It just seems to be easy to align and hold on targets.
I think he's right.

 

[Selfdfenz]

Why is the Marlin 60 so accurate?

Because Marlin had been making another rimfire riflewell know for its accuracy called the Model 39 for decades. If the company hoped to have market success with the 60 they couldn't afford to market a product that was markedly less accurate than the 39A.

S-

 

[MCgunner]

You know, before I got a M60, I'd pick up a Papoose. I like guns I can put in the saddle bags of my motorcycle to go shoot. That's what I have an AR7 for, works, but the Papoose is a significantly better rifle. That's one of the appeals of the little Browning other than shear beauty and workmanship, but at the price of the Browning, it'll be a while before I get one.

 

[SSN Vet]

the rifling is the key to their accuracy

and yet people boo hoo constantly about Marlin's micro-groove rifling....

Stay away from the crappy Remington Thunderbolt ammo. I had never had a misfire with my M60 untill I bought a brick of that cr@&. Now I get a FTE (stove pipe) in every magazine.

No problems with the Federal bulk ammo. in the "milk box" from Walmart though.

 

[rangerruck]

there are several reasons for this; first, marlin has about 50 yrs experience making this bbl, they use the best steel they can get, they have the machine specs down to a science. Except for bbl contour, and the 17 hmrs, all of their 22lr bbls are made the same way.
Now then, microgroove rifleing; on paper , it has to be more accurate than regular rifleing. Less depth and less cutting into the bullet means less deformation of the bullet, which means less bounce , recoiling shape, and less stretching and reconfiguring, as it goes down the bbl. All this on paper says, it should be more uniform when leaving the muzzle.

 

[Carl Levitian]

I don't have a model 60, but I do have two model 39's and a 981T bolt action. They all shoot better than more expencive guns. Like was said, it's the microgroove barrel.

I've had most of the .22's out there, the 10/22, Browning auto, Reminton speedmaster, Remington nylon 66. My Marlins were always the most accurite.

 

[TCB in TN]

I have always had very good accuracy from any marlin/glenfield that I have owned. (and there have been MANY). When asked for a recommendation on a first .22 rifle the marlin is always my first suggestion. IMHO they are the best value in the .22 market.

 

[nathan]

I have a Marlin 880 SQ bull barrel in ,22 lr. With a Bushnell 4-12 x x 40 AO, it kills birds easy at 50-75 yds.

 

[doc2rn]

Good luck trying to wear one out too. I still have my first .22 Ruger standard and my first Marlin M60. 26 yrs on the pistol and 25 on the rifle. I think they look better now than when I got them, maybe that is due to the price of ammo.

 

[MCgunner]

Only reason to cuss a microgroove barrel is if you wanna shoot lead bullets in a centerfire. I've never tried it, just going on what I've heard.

 

[ArmedBear]

Lead .22LR shoots great in a microgroove barrel. My centerfire Marlin is a Ballard, though.

 

[MCgunner]

I've read something cussing the .444 Marlin, think it was, and the micro-groove rifling. I never fired or owned one and I read this years ago so I'm sorta hazy on it. Has no bearing on our M60 discussion, just I think where the gripe comes from on micro-groove rifling.

 

[ArmedBear]

The Ballard-rifled gun still seems to shoot copper-jacketed bullets better. Or maybe my buddy, from whom I got the lead SWC's, is just a sloppy reloader.

Thinking about it, it's probably #2.

 

[Eb1]

I can get 1/2" groups with Velocitors @ 100 yards and my model 60 pretty consistantly

 

[QUICK_DRAW_McGRAW]

my first rifle i bought my self was a marlin M60 from a friend when i was 18 at college in arizona. i was mad cause i didn't have a gun to go P-dog hunting with.

it now wears a tasco 3-9X40 scope on burris rings, DIY trigger job and over travel stock on the trigger. soon getting a 6-9inch bi-pod.

as it sits before i did the finishing touches on the trigger job(cut 1more coil total of 2 off hammer spring, and added JB weld to the trigger) i was getting concistantly dime sized groups at 50 yards with CCI Mini-Mags.

the M60's love those, im trying to find a M25 bolt for another toy at the range. i always bring out my mosin, hi-point carbine, and SKS but everyone always steals my M60 because of its accuracy and how dam fun it is.