Three Lemons in a Row but no Jackpot

I guess I’m now the world’s leading critic of the Marlin Model 60 .22 rifle.

I bought a Model 60 in 2018, I believe. It shot 4″ groups at 50 feet. Not yards. Feet. I sent it back, and Marlin gave up on it and sent a new one. I shot that one, and the feed tube fell off.

My buddy Mike wanted another .22, so naturally, he settled on the Model 60. I told him he couldn’t be my friend if he bought one, but he didn’t listen. He bought two. He bought an old one, and he also bought a new one. He liked the old one because it had a bigger magazine and a longer barrel.

This weekend, he brought the old one down, and it stovepiped about 50% of the time. A stovepipe is a failure to eject. The spent casing sticks out of the action, and it looks like a pipe.

When he left, he left the gun here. He was having issues with his gun case, and he figured he would be back soon.

Today, I decided to try to fix the gun, which came from Gunbroker. I have never been cheated on Gunbroker, but it looks like Mike drew the short straw. His gun had been modified several times by a master gunsmith. It was modified in the same sense that what puppies do to carpets is modification.

The Model 60 comes apart when you remove two takedown screws under the stock. Mike’s gun had three screws. The forward screw was normal. There were two screws at the rear. One went through the trigger guard. The other was set in a very nicely drilled hole in the stock, to the rear of the trigger guard.

I removed the middle screw, and it turned out to be a wood screw which didn’t fit tightly. It probably came from Home Depot. The top was black, but the rest was zinc. Apparently, the unknown master gunsmith took a Sharpie and painted it.

It ran into a pot metal or aluminum (Marlin, so probably pot metal) block at the rear of the action. The threads in the block didn’t look too hot. The factory screw is probably a #8 machine screw, and the master gunsmith used a #8 wood screw, so there was conflict.

I went to Numrich and looked the part up. They had a reproduction part. The price was great, but…fake part. I found the real thing on Ebay for $8.75, delivered. Consider that ordered.

I considered the possibility that the loose-fitting stock contributed to the stovepiping issue. It seemed worth checking.

I took the corresponding screw out of my 2018 Model 60 and tried it in the old gun. It fit, even though the threads had been abused. That told me the new Ebay screw would work.

The far-rear screw was in a blind hole. Explain that. Someone took the time to do a very good job drilling a hole that went nowhere.

Maybe the rifle stock was snapped off at some point, and the screw was inserted to add strength after it was glued in place. Of course, this would be a stupid idea. When you put wood back together with good glue, the joint is stronger than the wood was to begin with, and drilling a hole would make a weak spot.

I don’t think this is what happened, because I can’t find any sign of a split.

The gun still stovepiped when I was done, so I looked for answers online. People said Marlin 60 ejectors tended to need adjustment.

The Model 60 does not have an ejector, really. It has a cheap spring which is consistent with the low-grade engineering found elsewhere on the gun. If the spring gets bent, which it does, you have to fix it. I opened the gun up again, removed the action, and found that the master gunsmith had put a totally unnecessary S-curve in it.

I took the curve out with pliers, and then I did what is known as the penny/nickel trick. You can find it on Youtube. You fix the spring so the distance between the end of it and the cheap feed throat part is between the thickness of a penny and a nickel. It’s easier than using feeler gauges.

I put 5 rounds in the gun. Four shot just fine, and the last one stovepiped. I opened the gap on the spring up slightly, and I tested it again. It shot perfectly. For a Marlin.

Now Mike has a gun that works, and he owes me $8.75. I told him he could put a new roof on my chicken house.

If you’re wondering how to take the action out, there is one pin at the rear of the receiver, and you can push it out with your finger.

The best way to get a gun labeled “Marlin” to shoot correctly is to buy a Savage, a can of spray paint, and a stencil. Actually, I saw two messed-up Savages this weekend, so let’s go with Ruger.

The Marlin 60 is junk. There is really no way to defend it. It looks good, it shoots well when it shoots at all, and it’s light and handy, but Mattel has made sturdier, better-designed products.

But enough about the AR-15.

ZING. Rimshot.

I thank God the problems with this gun were easily fixed. Now I just need to convince Mike to quit buying them.