I bought today ($50.00) what had to be the filthiest Marlin M-60 ever.

It is a 1985 vintage plain Jane hardwood stocked M60 that came out of a hunt camp cabin and must not have been cleaned since it was bought in '85. I don't see how it even functioned.

There was so much burnt power crud inside the action it fell out in big chunks when I took the action apart. The slots where the extractors go into were filled in solid with crud.

To add insult to insult to injury it had a film of what looked to be years of cooking grease and smoke that had settled on the metal/stock. On the plus side it must have been what preserved it as there was not a speck of rust on it.

The only thing clean was the bore.

It took me a good two hours to get it up to snuff. It turned out OK....Good thing I don't count the time cleaning it in the cost.



I put the scope on it and it's even a bit of a odd duck.....It's a old K-Mart branded (Tasco made) 3 X 32 I found at the local flea market a month back for $8.00. I've never heard tell of a 3 X 32 before. I like it due to the fine crosshairs.

Great gun, enjoy. Everything else is cheap laminated wood

I've had my model 60ss so dirty the action would not cycle. Fun times when .22 was cheap to burn thru 4-5 bricks at 1 outing.

I got one for $15.00 as well years ago.  Just as dirty as you describe.  Cleaned it out and fixed it up nice for a friend.

If you haven't already changed  it, I'd go ahead and pick up a spare buffer and recoil spring.  The buffers all eventually crack and break over time (even though the gun usually continues to run) and the spring is easy to kink if you slip reinstalling the bolt.  With a bit more time you can polish everything to make it cycle smoother but honestly I'm not sure it's worth it, not that that's ever stopped me.   They're definitely some of the most fun guns to shoot.

My grandma has one. She is 90. I had to clean it for her becasue it actually STOPPED working.

Old too. And I dont mean 80s old. 60s maybe?

She uses it to kill squirrels that get in her bird feeder. She actually shot it to scare a bear once. No, Im not kidding. She called me and asked if she could shoot the bear with it... "No Oma, thats a bad idea." "OK I shoot in the air and scare the damn thing. Its in my bird feeder again"

Mine has the one with the squirrel on it, it has never been cleaned.

My oma's has the squirrel on the stock too.

Im guessing thats an older one

I want to say late 70s early 80s

The internals were fine. That said I did order another buffer to have on hand if I ever have a issue with that or any of my other Marlins that use a buffer.

While I had it apart I did do a "fluff & buff" on it and it runs pretty slick now.

Kind of off topic but I have some questions.

I've been wanting a Model 60 for a while now.  Saw one at my local WalMart today and it seemed like it was much shorter and had a shorter stock than I was expecting.  Does Marlin make these in a youth model?

I know that the company shortened the barrel and tube magazine a few years ago, but this one just seemed fit for a kid, not an adult.  The stock was so short there is no way I could have gotten used to the length of pull.

LC

Nice, like them 60's.

I have an old Model 60. Love it had it for years. These rifles simply work and are accurate.

Not to hijack but does anybody make the dress up stocks for these like they do for the 10/22. If it's not okay to ask OP,  I'll delete this and start another thread.

boyds

Yes they made shorter and lower capacity versions during the ban era.

The OP's Model 60 is the best one to look out for, Full capacity tube mag 17-18 rd and bolt hold open.

I bought one a couple of years ago for my boys. Found it on the used gun rack at a local gun store and picked it up for $70. I don't think it was ever cleaned. had to literally scrape the built up grime off of it before I started cleaning it. something tells me the previous owner sold it because it either stopped firing or became unreliable. Great gun! accurate and reliable.

Your Grandma rocks dude.

Mother in laws had been sitting under a dresser in a rifle case for 25 years when I cleaned it, locked the bolt back, hit the little release button, and counted down 3 seconds before it closed all the way

Cleaned up really good though!

I got one give to me, the old man took it completely apart even the trigger group. It had some heavy pitting and dirt dobbers had built nest in the barrel. Put it back together I had to buy a recoil spring and replace a few screws but it shoots great now

I got my new "black buffer" in and changed the old one out. Glad I did as it was not till I looked at it close with my magna-visor that I noticed fine cracks in it. It still may have held-up but as it was 30 years old (and plastics tech back then was not near as good as now) it was time for it to be changed out.

I'd say with any vintage Marlin semi it would be a good idea to change the buffer. You can always figure in the $16.00 cost in your negotiations.

I picked-up a Marlin M-9 "Camp Carbine" the other day and the very first thing I did was order a new "blue" buffer and a stouter recoil spring.

The odd thing was the M-9 buffers are $5.00 cheaper than the .22 buffers.

Whats this about a "black buffer" is it just a better material than standard replacement?
I've always like the 60 since my Dad has a Western Auto Revelation 120, I found two Glenfield model 60's in two days just hope one of the guys takes up my offer to buy.

People clean .22 rifles?

Around 1992 I cleaned out my father's Glenfield Model 60, and it had never been dismantled before.  He bought it in 1960's for $15 from a friend.  The outside was clean, however the inside was full of wheat buds, soybeans, and even a piece of broken glass was jammed up in there.  It would sit in the combine in the fall, so it got covered and filled with chaff and whatever else dust and debris during the harvest.  I had to use a wire brush and a flat head screwdriver to scrape out the combination of gun oil, grease, dust, and other crap that was in there.

Once it was cleaned up, it ran like a new gun.