Help with a Marlin Model 60?

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Rick1013
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Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by Rick1013 » Sat Nov 12, 2016 6:08 pm

A friend gave me his Marlin/Glenfield Model 60 .22 semi-automatic rifle to see if I could figure out why it would fire, but not eject the empty cartridge. The rifle was manufactured in 1978 and while in decent shape, it hadn't been cleaned much.

I stripped it down and cleaned everything well. After cleaning, I fired the rifle by loading one in the chamber. No ejection. I tried different ammo brands with the same non-ejection result.

I disassembled the action, cleaning everything well, and found that the lifting spring had fallen out of its track. I put the spring back in place and reassembled the action, cocked the hammer and installed the action into the stock.

I pulled the trigger and nothing happened. Off-safe the trigger will pull, but won't release the hammer.

I watched a bunch of assembly videos on YouTube and read a bunch of "solutions" on forums, but none seemed to help. I can manually release the hammer by pressing on the disconnector with my finger (though it is kind of stiff), but once assembled in the stock, I get nothing.

So while I think I solved the ejection problem, I can't test it because the trigger won't release the hammer.

Is there anyone in SpokaneGunTrader-land who understands the Marlin Model 69 and would be interested in looking at the action with me? I'd rather not tell my friend to take it to a gunsmith, as he doesn't want to spend $100 on such an inexpensive rifle.

Let me know if you would be willing to look at the rifle with me. I am always interested in learning.

Rick
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by RLHas » Sun Nov 13, 2016 7:14 am

Bring it in and we can take a close look...
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by BC38 » Sun Nov 13, 2016 7:38 am

I would second taking it to RLHas (Rick) at Firearm Finishing.
They did a great job on a rifle of mine that wasn't working right and the cost was extremely reasonable.
Great guys that do great work at great prices. You won't regret it if you take it to them.
Always looking for a deal on more ammo and reloading components.
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by ron » Sun Nov 13, 2016 3:20 pm

BC38 wrote:I would second taking it to RLHas (Rick) at Firearm Finishing.
They did a great job on a rifle of mine that wasn't working right and the cost was extremely reasonable.
Great guys that do great work at great prices. You won't regret it if you take it to them.
+1

Too many people suffer from a phobia known as "Fear of Gunsmiths" because unfortunately some gunsmiths have a hard time staying in business and they feel they need to charge extra be able to keep their doors open. Some people fear automotive mechanics for similar reasons. But when you find a GOOD mechanic, that is an extremely valuable resource and we all need to support our local gunsmiths so they can stay in business and will be there when we need them.

If the gun is only worth a hundred bucks in working order and you don't want to spend 20-30 bucks to fix it then your net loss is 100 dollars. But if you spend a little money to fix it, you aren't nearly as far in the hole. but if the gun doesn't work, it's worth absolutely nothing. That makes a lot of sense to me and Firearm Finishing can take the gun apart and evaluate what it needs and give you a price and you can go from there, but my guess is that 9 times out of ten either Rick or Scott could look at it and be on their way to getting it working again in short order. They are getting busier all the time, (I hope) but they've always had a very fast turn-around time.
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by boarderwayne » Sun Nov 13, 2016 4:38 pm

I can't comment on the hammer problem other than saying Rick is a solid guy and can probably figure it out.

As for the no ejection, I bought a model 60 3 years ago and it has the same issue. I fought endlessly with Marlin about it, even sent it into them 3 different times to figure it out but they always kept it for a couple months and sent it back with no documentation as to what they did to it. Their customer service is the worst I've ever experienced and I'll never buy another Freedom Group product because of it.

So far I've only found 3 different brands that will make it eject and cycle properly:
Remington Golden Bullet
Aguila Interceptor
Browning BPR

Brands that didn't work:
Federal automatch
Federal champion
Federal american eagle
Winchester Super X
Remington thunderbolt
CCI standard velocity
Eley Target

So when you get it back in working order, maybe try some more brands and hope for the best.

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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by Rick1013 » Tue Nov 15, 2016 9:30 am

Thank you so much for the input! I'll take the rifle into Rick. Maybe I can learn something in the process!

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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by scrappy » Tue Nov 15, 2016 5:16 pm

It's sad to See this degree of quality from Marlin. Years ago I bought a m-75C (18" barrel m-60) on a close out sale at Wards for $59. Not only did it function perfectly with anything I fed it, but it was the most accurate 22 I have ever owned. It would put a magazine full of Remington golden bullet 40gr solids into one ragged hole at 25 yds and 3/4" at 50yds. To hear of problems like this makes me wish I still had it.
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by ghillieinthemist » Sat Nov 19, 2016 6:50 pm

if you have American eagle ammo...toss it. it's crap. try some higher end ammo like CCI see if it works. a lot of ammo don't have the umph to fully cycle. I'd try that first cause it happened to me. Switched out for good ammo and it worked. Just a thought.
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by ron » Tue Nov 22, 2016 6:58 pm

ghillieinthemist wrote:if you have American eagle ammo...toss it. it's crap. try some higher end ammo like CCI see if it works. a lot of ammo don't have the umph to fully cycle. I'd try that first cause it happened to me. Switched out for good ammo and it worked. Just a thought.
Even CCI Blazers seem to be " higher end" than other brands especially in my experience, Remington Thunderbolt or Federal AutoMatch "Target" Ammunition. Federal and CCI are both owned by the same company but manufactured at different facilities. CCI 22LR ammo has always been my favorite and I'm waiting to see the day when I can find bricks of CCI blazers in individual 50 round boxes.

I had a model 60 for a while, but it was made by marlin before The Freedom group took over Marlin and was ok but I've never thought the model 60 was anywhere near as good as a Ruger 10/22 for an entry level semi-auto. They've always sold for a little less than the Ruger but the 1022 has always been worth the xtra $20-30 dollars.

As far as the original post, Firearm Finishing can fix it for you and then hopefully it won't be ammo-specific but I agree with this post, use CCI ammo and you shouldn't have any problems. Especially not with the plated mini-mags. That model 60 I had even worked with Velocitors, but it probably wouldn't be good to shoot those all the time, and they're expensive anyway.
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Re: Help with a Marlin Model 60?

Post by Elk Stalker 45-70 » Sat Jan 07, 2017 10:56 pm

Common problem with the model 60. The ejector or ejector spring is to blame.
Model 60's don't like to be dirty. Clean it squeaky clean, oil it and see if it runs better. Often times simply cleaning it will make the problem disappear. Certain model 60's can be very picky about ammo as well and they can exhibit this sort of issue. There is a ton of information available on the Internet forums. Hope that helps!

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