I've had my Marlin Glenfield out a few times now, and at first I was using Remington Thunderbolt roundnose ammo because I had a brick of those lying around. I was disappointed in the bad manufacturing and lead filth, so today I switched to copper plated Federal hollowpoints. Both brands seem to have trouble actually putting primers in their shells, but the Federals were much worse than the Remingtons. The Federals are causing all kinds of problems with the rifle and I'm wondering if the rifle just doesn't like hollowpoints? They don't seem to feed properly and I have to manually feed them in. In a tube of 18 I'm getting 3 or more misfires, and I put 120 rounds through it. I even had one crimped brass, but I didn't actually see what happened with that one.
I switched back to Remingtons and out of 54 shots I had maybe two shells that were duds and that was all. Those seem to feed properly and everything went well. The rifle is very clean and operates well. What to do? Roundnose ammo is hard to find around here, but maybe I should just use that?
I don't know what kind of ammo, specifically, that you're using but I would advise against bulk 500+ round ammo if you're having a lot of duds. I have taken the approach that I use CCI Mini-Mags exclusively. Round-nose non-hollow point ammo doesn't mean a whole lot as far as feeding if you're not using truncated cone ammo. All the HP ammo in the bulk packs are essentially round-nose ammo with a dimple. Clean the gun thorougly, and you should really be able to shoot any round-nose hollow point or solid-point ammo with high reliability. The Model 60s seem to be very picky about grit that builds up in the bolt area and then they start to jam. The good thing is that the Model 60s seem much more accurate than a 10/22 for example, but tend to need much more cleaning. Good luck with that M60 and keep shooting!
Whew! Thanks ponycar. I was hoping it was just me and my cheap ammo. I am obsessive about cleaning my guns anyway, it's time well spent. I have a box of CCI that I use for small game, but haven't put any through the Marlin yet as I have only had it for a couple of weeks. The Marlin is above and beyond the old single-shot Marlin Ranger bolt rifle I have, jeez does that thing get dirty after one shot.
My father in law got a box of Federal .22's a few years ago for his bolt action Remington. He had alot of rounds that didn't go off, or that sounded like a weak charge. He's only bought Winchester ammo since andhas had much better luck.
there are different grades of Federal ammo, and he had the cheapest box at the store. But it soured him on Federal.
I've had poor luck with those big bulk boxes of Federal .22LR ammo too. Lots of dead primers in the few times I've used em. Won't even bother with trying them anymore.
If you can find em, look for the Remington Game Load bricks when shopping for cheap stuff. It's pretty much the same load as the hollow point Thunderbolt except has a plated bullet. I've had good luck with em in my semi-autos.
And +1 for what ponycar posted about the Marlin semis being fussy about a cruddy action. Keep em cleaned and the bolt raceways pretty much swimming in oil and they work fine.
That sounds easy enough, I'm going to do some more thorough cleaning and see what happens. I like the plated ammo best so I'll look for those Remingtons, thanks for the tip! I just can't see putting CCI rounds in my Spee-D-Loader just for plinking, when I have to pay range fees anyway.
After reading here and trying it for myself, I will never buy hollow point ammo. Took my Walther to the range, to have jam after jam (HP ammo), this was in 32 caliber. This gun never jams. Put in FMJ no problem. I have never shot Federal in hollow point, Federal seems to do O.K. with Rugers and S&W. The Thunderbolts are terrible with duds, I have a couple bricks yet to go through and I will be done with them. I don't think its you or the gun.
Remington is not my favorite. This year I have had two burns from hot brass that has inexplicably gotten flung at me from weird angles. One came out of the ejector and went over the top of the rifle and down my left sleeve. I don't know if those are lighter than other manufacturers' brass casings or if it's just freak coincidence, it's kind of funny though. Between that and the shameful amount of duds, I've been looking for other brands even though the quality goes down when quantity goes up. I don't usually want hollowpoints either, I don't see any reason for using them on paper targets (my favorite pastime). The Remingtons are also hated by my Smith & Wesson pistol, but not as much as the Marlin hates those rounds. I'm really glad it's not me or the gun, other than the fact that I'm kind of cheap and look for the cheapest ammo, heh.
Okay, thanks to Marlin's website and a user manual that sort of matches this model, I got the whole thing broken down and cleaned completely. Lots of crud built up in there and a substance I swear is graphite--not happy about that at all. Everything is grit-free and oiled and it seems to function better than I expected.
I really want to go and see how well it operates, but all of my shooting friends are working and I don't shoot alone. Maybe I should go and search for different ammo....
I'd shoot the same cheap ammo and see if the cleaning did any good. If the cheap stuff shoots better than it did before then ya know it was the gun. If you change ammo now and the gun shoots great, is it the ammo or the gun? A dirty gun will cause all kinds of problems, been there done that.
I will, I still have some to use up. Seems to me most of the trouble must have been due to lack of clean parts. Good thing I like to disassemble and clean these, I'd rather clean guns than clean the house any day.
I went crazy with my Model 60 not functioning correctly (don't worry, the doctors say I'm fine now); It failed to feed almost EVERY time, and, worse, it would puncture the side of the cartridge being fed!!! I cleaned it. A LOT! Disassembled it and cleaned it. REMOVED THE BARREL from the receiver, and cleaned it. No Joy...Bemoaned my situation to a fella at the range clubhouse;
He: What ya shootin' through it?
Me: Different types...
He: Hollowpoints...?
Me: Some of 'em are...
He: Hollowpoints only weigh 36 grains and therefore don't present enough inertia against the expanding gasses to fully drive the bolt back...'Ya clean it?
Me:...Uh, yeah, a lot!
He: Oil it?
Me: Yep! But only lightly...
He: Don't. The oil acts like a magnet for carbon and jams things up. If you clean it, the cleaning solvent will leave a thiiiinnnn film on the action all by itself. Shoot 40 grain bullets from a clean and dry .22 and that should solve yer problem...
Me: ...Uh, O.K....
I'm thinking of trading it off in favor of a lever gun, I am convinced this Marlin hates me. I would get any of the Marlin levers though, they are well-made.
Very interesting as I've not had that particular issue with my 60. In fact, this is the first time I've even heard of this!
I will keep it in mind though in case it ever becomes an issue with my 60. Thanks for sharing it.
Another issue I recently heard of with the 60 (I haven't experienced this so far) is that the dirtier ammo will cause a lot of buildup around the little spring-loaded ramp under the action. The ramp, over time (supposedly) will wear itself out and you'll experience failures to feed. At that point, that little ramp must be replaced, as it's made of cheap pot metal... This is especially pronounced with dirtier ammo according to my source.
The 60 has no way of getting all that garbage out of the action except for a thorough cleaning, unlike the 10/22 where the crud falls out when the magazine is removed. For the record, I've seen no difference in feeding with any type of ammo in my 60, only that the bulk stuff often fails to fire and requires cleaning more often... I've never tried Truncated Cone hollow points, and don't intend to ever try them. Often times, people use Truncated Cone hollowpoint ammo as their first attempt with hollowpoints in a .22, and a LOT of .22 auto-loaders absolutely hate those. Hollowpoint ammo such as CCI MiniMags, etc, which have a more rounded point have fed no differently than simple round nose in all of the .22s I've ever fired or owned.
My 60 works great with the cheap stuff with only an occasional FTF or jam. It is accurate with all of the cheap stuff. I clean it and let it dry and shoot it hard the next time out.
This one seems to just behave badly after about three tubes full of shells, no matter what type/brand. All I can think is that this rifle wasn't really made for plinking, and I like plinking.
This one seems to just behave badly after about three tubes full of shells, no matter what type/brand. All I can think is that this rifle wasn't really made for plinking, and I like plinking.
The guy I mentioned above has seen the same problem in 60s and replaced this part for a perfectly-functioning rifle. I'm not saying it's definitely your problem but it's worth checking the part out...
I had a marlin 60 a few years back, it would fire almost anything, but like most auto loaders it jams with a little fouling, I would pull the trigger group and spay it down with Tetra Action blaster, let it dry .then spray with a lite coat of WD-40 I have used WD-40 for years on my Autos, the heaver oils will speed up gumming.
I agree with Army on the WD-40.
One of my favorite rifles is my Glenfield/Marlin mod 60. I don't think you're seeing leading. I think you're seeing powder fouling. I know people who shoot 22's competitively with plain lead (not copper washed) bullets & they never ever clean out their barrels. They just clean the action & get great accuracy.
The mod 60 needs to have the stock removed (one bolt) & the 4 screws that hold the action onto the reciever taken out. Use a toothbrush & WD-40 to get all the powder fouling off all the areas of the action. Take the bolt out & wipe it down & clean out the area inside the receiver where the bolt rides. Also make sure the bolt spring is clean. Use WD-40 everywhere you can. Regular gun oils are way too thick & cause too much friction in this gun. Don't listen to those who say WD-40 is not a lubricant-it says "lubricates" right on the can. As has been said You want to avoid building up powder fouling crud & WD is the best I've found in this gun. You should be able to shoot any 40 grain ammo however cheap if your gun action is clean & your bolt is sliding freely. The only ammo mine hasn't loaded well is the old "truncated" shaped bullet. HPs shpould be no problem.
"duds" are usually caused by light primer hits in dirty guns.
I'm thinking of trading it off in favor of a lever gun, I am convinced this Marlin hates me. I would get any of the Marlin levers though, they are well-made.
I bought a Marlin Model 80, bolt action 22 when I was in High School via mail order (that should tell you how old it is). It has always functioned perfectly and is more accurate than I am. I dressed it up with a 2-7 Redfield scope designed for a centerfire rifle and after a couple pump 22 rifles which I have traded off it is the only 22 rifle I own. In short buy a 22 rifle that is reliable and you shoot well and don't worry about any others as I doubt if you can wear it out.
I think I will take it apart again and get some WD-40 to try. The last time I had it apart, I bent the recoil spring a little, which was annoying but it still works fine. Difficult to get that back in. I plan to refinish the stock because it's chipping, and I think those squirrels would look so much better with Tru-Oil on them anyway. We'll see what happens, if I don't get better behavior out of it, it's definitely getting traded off in the spring, it's the only gun I have that I am not really attached to.
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