New model 60 owner in need of help

[meatmachineman]

I picked up a Marlin model 60 at a local auction a few weeks back. A fella I work with wants to buy it from me. I took it out today to fire it and make sure all is well before I sell it and all is not well. Using CCI Blazer ammo, the first round fires just fine. The spent case is ejected and the next round is picked up and chambered without issue. When the trigger is squeezed again... nothing... no click... nada. Manually running the bolt back, the unspent round is ejected and the next round is chambered. Squeeze the trigger and... bang. That is ejected just fine, next round picked up and chambered... squeeze the trigger and nothing again. I figured the bolt might not be getting cycled back far enough, but even manually running the bolt back, sometimes nothing happens when squeezing the trigger. Last night, I took the gun down, gave it a good cleaning, although it was fairly clean to start with. Reassembled and cycled the bolt a few times with some snap caps to make sure it was good... and had no issues. But today Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. I can't seem to find much online that addresses this particular problem.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Taking the simple path, it sounds like a short firing pin which is very common with low cost rimfire rifles. My Savage is on the edge of failure mode as well. You could try a different ammo as well and see if that helps. My Savage 93 is ammo sensitive and only likes the good stuff because the rim is thicker.

 

[meatmachineman]

Charlie, I'm thinking short of needing a higher velocity round, I have a mechanical problem. I made the mistake of taking only one brand with me, figuring that the CCI Blazers shouldn't present any problems. I should have known better... especially with a low cost 22. I'm not 100% certain of the internals of the 60, but I don't see there being a firing pin length issue as it seems when the rifle doesn't fire, the firing pin wasn't even actuated. Squeeze the trigger and silence... no boom, no click... nothing. Unless someone has any other ideas, I may have to just give it another whirl with a few different brands on my next few days off.

 

[tddeangelo]

Have you tried manually cycling the bolt but not retracting it quite all the way? If that replicates your issue, it sounds like the rifle isn't getting fully cycled.

Dumb question.....everything lubricated as it should be?

 

[meatmachineman]

Have you tried manually cycling the bolt but not retracting it quite all the way? If that replicates your issue, it sounds like the rifle isn't getting fully cycled.

Dumb question.....everything lubricated as it should be?

Yeah... lubed and cycles very smoothly manually. I've actually been able to replicate the issue pulling the bolt back fully. There is a recoil buffer in there that I thought may have been an aftermarket add-on causing the issue, but a quick peek at a schematic off of Brownells shows the buffer.

 

[Oldtrader3]

Well try it with some high velocity LR ammo and see what happens. Auto rimfires are ammo velocity sensitive as you said.

 

[tddeangelo]

What's funny is I bought one of those Umarex "Colt" M4 look-alikes in 22LR, and I can feed that thing anything from standard velocity lead solids to jacketed/plated high-velocity rounds and it doesn't care. I haven't tried hollow points in it, but I might, as I can usually get deals on HP ammo more readily.

And those "M4's" are supposed to be HIGHLY ammo sensitive....go figure.

 

[Oldtrader3]

That is weird because on our coast, we usually get the best deals on solid points. Just regional differences I guess.

Robert, I have a Model 63 Winchester semi-auto .22 and it will only shoot the premium brands of ammo. The cheap stuff jams it or does not cycle the bolt all of the way back and it jams. It also can be a bear to clear as well, so I only shoot high power premium ammo in it.

 

[DrMike]

Well try it with some high velocity LR ammo and see what happens. Auto rimfires are ammo velocity sensitive as you said.

+1

Good advice, that.

 

[meatmachineman]

I don't think ammo sensitivity is really model specific per se. I currently have two 10-22s and have had another two at one time or another. Of those four two would eat virtually anything. One would get a little testy if I tried the wrong bulk ammo, and one seemed like it knew if I tried to feed it bulk pack ammo and would only behave if it knew the ammo came from a 50 round box. I'd have to keep the brick it came from out of sight... just in case :wink: I suppose some models may be more prone to finickiness than others, though.

 

[Oldtrader3]

I think that they are Robert. I do not know if it is differences in the springs, or burrs on the bolt, or the way you hold your mouth when pulling the trigger but many semi auto .22LR's exhibit fussiness about ammo, even my Model 63, a design that has been around longer even than I have. I gave up and just find the ammo it likes and buy a brick of it.

 

[Teknys]

I had a Marlin model 60 and it shot anything I would put in it. Unfortunately I recently "gave" it away. My son lost the tube for the magazine. I could have gave you some parts to try and resolve your problem.

 

[meatmachineman]

May need a few more ideas, up to and including unloading the rifle cheap. Tried it with a "proper" amount of lube. Tried it bone dry. Tried it drowning in lube. Tried about 10 different ammos. I and a couple friends have been trying to find something out of sorts with the gun and nothing's jumping out at us... except inside the receiver at the top. There are some integral rails in the top of the receiver for the bolt to ride on. They show considerable wear. We made a shim stack and placed it in the inletting of the stock to raise the trigger group up. That should, in turn, reduce the amount of slop the bolt has between the top of the receiver and the trigger group. My friend test fired it yesterday and got the same thing... fires, ejects, and feeds just fine. Squeeze the trigger and silence. The hammer is still not getting cocked. I'm losing hope for the little guy.... barring any other ideas... I think its time to head down the road is quickly approaching.

 

[JD338]

I would try some different ammo.
Never shot the CCI Blazer rounds so I really can't speak to them.
I have a few bricks of Remington Yellow Jackets and they shoot unreal in my Remington M541T-HB.
Might be worth a try.

JD338

 

[meatmachineman]

I had about 6 or 7 different ammos on hand bought a few others I didn't have. I didn't try any of the really high dollar high velocity stuff, but I also did not use any of the bulk pack garbage either. I'm pretty sure if this is an ammo problem, the gun isn't worth having. But as of now, I'm pretty certain there is something else at play.

 

[cloverleaf]

Couple things- that recoil buffer is probably correct. On the two I have it flops around in there .... the sear engagement on the hammer is pretty shallow and a couple things have to happen for that to "cock and lock" fully. It sounds to me like that may not be happening. Removing that lower assembly (where all those parts are is not tough). Cock the action, push the big plastic pin out the rear hole of the assembly and the whole thing will come out together. IF you dont remove any of the "C" clps on the sides it will all lay there w/o a problem. Grab your can of gun scrubber (NOT WD 40) and rinse that thing out really good. If you can see how the hammer is cocked, decock that and rinse the sear notch as well.
The other place where I find these rifles gum up in in the notches where the extractors fit into the barrel. I use a dental pic to GENTLY scrape the areas clean.
The bolt comes out w/o too much trouble but the spring is strong and you can bend it and the guide rod if you arent careful.
You could rinse the slot where the firing pin sets in w/o taking the bolt out if you think that is where you problem is coming from.
My routine is to wipe a little lubricant from a rog on the obvious wear surfaces on the hammer. If you dont take the bolt out put a half a drop on the bottom of the reciever so that it gets to the top of the bolt but thats all I'd do. Put the rest of it back together dry.

If you need some more help you can try the Marlin owners forum at this address. The rimfire page usually has a thread devoted to the model 60/70.

http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/

I have polished the inside of the reciever on my model 70 and it digests cci blazers w/o issue Rem lightning's and Federal cheap stuff still give it some occasional problems but with any CCI nad win. it is utterly reliable, and I havent had to clean it even as Ive describeid in several hundred rounds. I wouldnt feel too bad selling the rifle to the guy, even if you cant get it to work. They aren that complicated and any decent smith could replace or a spring or whatever and make it a reliable shooter w/o too much trouble. Just my .02 CL

 

[cloverleaf]

Crap- I forgot one thing. Mine IS picky about how tight the actions screws are. "Bubba" did a bedding job on this one too and it will give the problem you describe if I have the trigger guard screws too tight. Back it off a quarter turn and see if that solves the problem. The plastic trigger guard dosent help. CL