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I just bought a circa 1990 model 60 (8 digit SN 10xxxxxx), and started looking into it.
Come to find out its a 22" barrel with full length magazine and the last shot hold open. Plus it has the reinforcing bolt behind the trigger guard.
From what I've found online it should have the 22" barrel and the short magazine. The consensus is that the long/long combination with hold open was only made in roughly the 85/86 timeframe.

Does anyone know more about this?
Just wondering, but its interesting to get to the bottom of such things...

Thanks!


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Somebody here probably knows but if no luck try Rimfire Central they've got a good Marlin forum with a lot of Model 60 fans.

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Thanks 43shooter. I posted there too.


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Ktagman..

I always thought that the mag length chsnge happened in the early 90s as a respose to the 10 shot mag capacity restrictions in states like New Jersey etc..

I have a copy of every Marlin catalog from 1960 to 2010...

Let me check and see when the mag change happened as per the catalog specs.

UPDATE-

I just checked my catalogs..

The M60 changed from the Glenfield Brand to the Marlin m60 in 1983
Thr Bolt hold open tab was added in 1985
The first year of the shorter mag was 1992

My 1990 catalog shows the full length magazine.

Last edited by jk16; 04/01/20.
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85 or 86 is correct for the long tube and long barrel and last shot hold open....I thought. Maybe yours was modified

Last edited by DollarShort; 04/01/20.
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Originally Posted by jk16
Ktagman..

I always thought that the mag length chsnge happened in the early 90s as a respose to the 10 shot mag capacity restrictions in states like New Jersey etc..

I have a copy of every Marlin catalog from 1960 to 2010...

Let me check and see when the mag change happened as per the catalog specs.

UPDATE-

I just checked my catalogs..

The M60 changed from the Glenfield Brand to the Marlin m60 in 1983
Thr Bolt hold open tab was added in 1985
The first year of the shorter mag was 1992

My 1990 catalog shows the full length magazine.

1990 is probably full length but with the 19" barrel?

But even the short magazine holds 14.

Last edited by DollarShort; 04/01/20.
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I've had mine since 1971. It handles well, and the balance is superb.

I just wish it was as reliable as my other .22s. It's not. Mine is the older 22" barrel/full length magazine (18 round capacity). I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've gotten thru a full magazine without it choking and puking on me. It does okay with only 15 rounds in the magazine, which is plenty enough, really.

Since getting into good bolt guns, though, I've been shooting them side by side, and the old Marlin just doesn't shoot very well. At least, mine does not. I'm lucky to get a two-inch group at 50 yards with it, while my boltguns are usually better than 3/4" with any ammo. It just doesn't shoot very well.

When I was a kid, I didn't know the difference, and neither did the rabbits, squirrels, coons, etc. that I killed with it. It must have been a truckload or two. Mine even has a very light trigger, though it's creepy and mushy. It is the only .22 rifle I own that favors CCI Standard Velocity, even my boltguns dislike it, but the Marlin gobbles them up. When I got it on my birthday in '71, it had a sticker on the stock admonishing me to use only high velocity ammo, so if you use the ammo recommended, it doesn't shoot well. Oh well.


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Originally Posted by DollarShort
Originally Posted by jk16
Ktagman..

I always thought that the mag length chsnge happened in the early 90s as a respose to the 10 shot mag capacity restrictions in states like New Jersey etc..

I have a copy of every Marlin catalog from 1960 to 2010...

Let me check and see when the mag change happened as per the catalog specs.

UPDATE-

I just checked my catalogs..

The M60 changed from the Glenfield Brand to the Marlin m60 in 1983
Thr Bolt hold open tab was added in 1985
The first year of the shorter mag was 1992

My 1990 catalog shows the full length magazine.

1990 is probably full length but with the 19" barrel?


WHO said anything about a 19" barrel?

Not me.
Not the OP.
And not Marlin's catalogs up until the mag length change in 1992..

The m60 still had 22" barrels.

From 1983 to 1992 Marlin did make a m75c varbine with an 18" barrel and full length 13 shot mag.

In 2003 they dropped the 22" barrels and went with the 19" tubes with full length 14 shot mags.





Last edited by jk16; 04/01/20.
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Originally Posted by jk16
Originally Posted by DollarShort
Originally Posted by jk16
Ktagman..

I always thought that the mag length chsnge happened in the early 90s as a respose to the 10 shot mag capacity restrictions in states like New Jersey etc..

I have a copy of every Marlin catalog from 1960 to 2010...

Let me check and see when the mag change happened as per the catalog specs.

UPDATE-

I just checked my catalogs..

The M60 changed from the Glenfield Brand to the Marlin m60 in 1983
Thr Bolt hold open tab was added in 1985
The first year of the shorter mag was 1992

My 1990 catalog shows the full length magazine.

1990 is probably full length but with the 19" barrel?


WHO said anything about a 19" barrel?

Not me.
Not the OP.
And not Marlin's catalogs up until the mag length change in 1992..

The guns still had 22" barrels.




Where'd you get the idea that a 14 shot tube mag conforms to a 10 shot detachable mag restriction?

Edit: I've seen plenty with the 22" barrel and 14 shot short magazine. So whether your catalogs show it that way or not, they were made.

This site says the bolt hold open happened in 85, and magazine was shortened in the late 80's. But doesn't say if that's 86, 87, 88, or 89.
https://www.mcarbo.com/store/pg/15-History-of-the-Marlin-60.aspx

Edit again: But you could be right about the 1992 magazine change, even though it looks like the barrels weren't shortened until. 1999 or so.
Marlinowners has this thread that says it was shortened in 1990 though.
https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/rimfires/164148-marlin-model-60-history.html#/topics/164148

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I was told not to use high velocity in them because the buffer would fail quickly

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I'd try the Federal Automatch. They seem to feed well and are slightly slower than HV ammo.

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Originally Posted by mjbgalt
I was told not to use high velocity in them because the buffer would fail quickly
You were told wrong. The owners manual says to use high velocity .22 LR ammuntion. I have severeal old {1976, 1990 and 1997} Marlin semi's. They've all had tens of thousands of rounds of high velocity ammo fired through them. The 1997 version still has the original plastic buffer in it. They will all deteriorate/crack/ break over time and need to be replaced. I replaced the ones in my two older Marlins with the black, high strength aftermarket buffers from Brownell's years ago.

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Hi DollarShort

One thing I am confident about is no modifications, its NIB.
I bought it from an estate that is mostly NIB guns from the 90's.


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Thanks blackheart. That will make things a lot easier.

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JK16 - so it looks like that 22" barrel with full magazine and bolt hold open was the norm in 1990 according to the marlin catalogs, and from 85 till 92.

Thank you very much. I thought it was a 1 or 2 year overlap, not a 7 year one. But I knew that I didn't really know.

Thanks all!


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Kragman1: I have had several friends with Marlin Model 60's - and I have shot most all of their Rifles along with them.
One of these was a very early Model 60 (they were introduced in 1960 in fact!) and I think it was about 1962 when we (the young 15'ish me!) and my friend were out plinking with our 22's one summer afternoon.
About mid-shooting session his Marlin Model 60 went "full auto" on us - emptying the tubular magazine completely and just about instantly!
It turns out his older brother had been trying to "modify" the Model 60 into being a full automatic Rifle!
The rumor was back then when the Model 60 was "new" that they could be modified into "full-auto" easily and lots of curious (dumb) types were trying to attain this condition!
It was cool this "full auto" feature - but sadly had this major drawback (at least on his gun!) you could get it to fire "full-auto" but you could not stop the "full-auto" once it started rolling!
It ate ammo FAST!
So he had to single load the Rifle to get it to a manageable rate of fire.
Eventually a "parent" got involved with the Rifle and it "went away".
Be aware of this around the real old, early Model 60's - they may have been tinkered upon.
Again back to the rumor mill - it was "rumored" that the folks at Marlin soon implemented a change that prevented "full -auto" firing modifications.
Before that "modified" Rifle of my friends "went away" we tried to "time" how long it took for it to empty the tubular magazine - IIRC it took less than three seconds.
Fun but not safe or useful for plinking boys/young Hunters.
Enjoy your nifty Rifle.
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Full auto .22s (with a disconnector) should be legal for adults in every state, dontcha think...?

Last edited by kragman1; 04/01/20.

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My grandkids in Mich.. have a bunch of these things.. They love em..


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Funny that I've never owned one before.
Many .22s but never a 60.
It will be a while before I shoot it I think. There are others in line before it.


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The Marlin Model 60 is my second favorite semiautomatic .22 Rifle. Only second to my Nylon 66. Tube fed fun!!!


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