I`ve had my Marlin model 60 since I was a kid,put countless rounds through it and seldom bothered to clean it during the early years yet it never let me down. It always shot really well and almost never jammed,until a few years ago. It started doing it every 30-40 rounds then it got more frequent until it jammed almost every shot. I stripped it a few times and cleaned it really well,checked for wear or burrs etc. that might be causing the problem and didn`t find anything. Polished the feed ramp,no help. It jams the same way every time,the bolt comes front and slams into the side of the round being fed,pinning it to the ramp with 2 big dents in the side of the case. Sometimes it actually bends the round! I figured the carrier wasn`t lifting the rounds fast enough so I replaced the spring. This helped some,it only jammed every 5-6 rounds. Sigh. So I figured after so many rounds it could use a new recoil spring too. Changed it and now it`s back to jamming every shot! Doh. This gun is an old friend I`d really love to get shooting well again,any ideas? Marcus
Formerly trusty Marlin 60 jamming,help!
- Thread starter Marcus
- Start date
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
Marcus, I've worked on a lot of these over the years with problems similar to yours. The problem you describe usually comes from accumulated crud and a detailed cleaning will fix it but you've already done that so it could be a number of things. If you are sure it's clean you can start replacing things by a process of elimination. If you get lucky the first part will fix it. Check the inner mag tube for dents. I'd replace the mag spring and follower first, then the lifter. You may get to the point where you want to change out the complete carrier assy. They probably don't sell one for yours as it's older. But there are "conversion" carrier assys being sold for around $15. I'd recommend you take it to your local smith. You'll probably save money in the long run as he will only charge you for the parts actually needed. George
Sometimes that pot metal carrier housing (the steel round lifter moves inside it) can get either filled with gunk, or it may actually start to come apart.
Detailed disassembly and inspection is in order. If the two halves are spreading apart, you might be able to epoxy them together. But check the feedway for wear first. The case rims should be adequately guided all the way back to where the cartridge gets lifted up.
Detailed disassembly and inspection is in order. If the two halves are spreading apart, you might be able to epoxy them together. But check the feedway for wear first. The case rims should be adequately guided all the way back to where the cartridge gets lifted up.
I have a Marlin 60 that went unreliable, but is now fine. Sounds like mine had a different problem, but just in case...
My problem was that the inlets for the extractors were full of crud. I keep the gun clean, but had never thought to clean out those little inlets. So the extractors were not getting a good grip on the round as it chambered, and I had a lot of failures to eject. Sometimes the spent cartridge would eject, but would interfere with feeding. So I had some faliures to feed, too.
Once I cleaned out those inlets, I'm back to reliable feeding again. I used an old bent guitar string to clean 'em, but there's probably a better way.
My problem was that the inlets for the extractors were full of crud. I keep the gun clean, but had never thought to clean out those little inlets. So the extractors were not getting a good grip on the round as it chambered, and I had a lot of failures to eject. Sometimes the spent cartridge would eject, but would interfere with feeding. So I had some faliures to feed, too.
Once I cleaned out those inlets, I'm back to reliable feeding again. I used an old bent guitar string to clean 'em, but there's probably a better way.
Well I just detail stripped the ol girl and gave all the parts a thorough inspection. The pot metal carrier is fully in tact. There`s almost no noticable wear except on the feed ramp and it`s not too bad there. The lifter shows little wear other than shiney spots where the rounds slide over it. Wear is little enough that the rough edge from the stamping is still in tact,just shiney at spots. I smoothed out the rough spots a little with a fine diamond stone while I was in there. I`d replaced the lifter spring a year or so ago so it seemed to have plenty of umph. I did find a little bit if fine grit here and there and cleaned it out. It doesn`t really seem to be any smoother though. The mag tube is undented (I wouldn`t have thought to look at that though) and the spring "feels" okay but that doesn`t mean anything. I think I`ll try replacing it next. If that doesn`t do the trick I`ll admit defeat and have a smith check it out. 
Marcus
Marcus