Marlin Model 60: Models and Variants Breakdown

 Marlin produced a ton of brand labeled model 60s for various retailers, below is a list found online, I am not sure how comprehensive it is, but it is a starting point.

Marlin 60 Submodels:

60 - Base Model - Blued finish, with "Marshield" birch stock

60 C - Camo - Blued finish/Camo Hardwood Stock

60 DLX - Deluxe, first batch of the deluxe model with walnut stock, blued finish.

60 DL - Deluxe - second batch, blued finish, walnut stock

60 FS - Fiber optic Sights - Blued finish/synthetic stock, with fiber optic sights

60 GL - Glenfield Long? - I have heard that this may mean "Glenfield Long", coming from back when Mod 60s were being shortened, this model has an upgraded rear sight, not the stamped steel one, and had "gold" trigger

60 S-CF - Stainless Carbon Fiber - Stainless finish/Carbon Fiber Pattern Synthetic Stock

60 SB - Stainless Barrel - Stainless finish/"Walnut-color stained birch" stock

60 SN - Synthetic - Blued finish/Synthetic Stock

60 SP - American Heritage Limited Edition medallion in stock, gold trigger, 22" barrel and a 14 round capacity

60 SS - Stainless Steel - Stainless finish/Laminate wood stock

60 SSK - Stainless is Super Kool??? - Stainless finish/Synthetic Stock same as the 60S-CF

60 W - WALMART- Sportsmanship Edition - Blued/Walnut, with a Special Ethics medallion in stock, was told this model was sold through Walmart, had straight stock, non-Monte Carlo type, came with "gold" trigger

As far as variants:

Coast to Coast- Model 40 -Unknown details, 2,109 made.

Coast to Coast - Model 550 - Unknown details, 7,065 made total.

Cotter & Company Model 60-50 - Produced from 1968-1970, 2,991 made total.

Cotter & Company Model 601 - Produced from 1979-1982, 12,219 made total.

Cotter & Company West Point GA22- Produced from 1983-1988 (at least), different medallion inlaid in stock each year.

Foremost 6060 - JC Pennys Mod 60, Produced from 1968-1970.

Glenfield 60 - I guess this is just the cheaper name brand Marlin 60 & more plain stock, with a bead front sight

Glenfield 60G - Glenfield - Was told the Brophy book o' Marlins says that a "G" suffix means Glenfield

Glenfield 65 - Mod 60 with a brass outer magazine tube, made for OTASCO, but not marked as such.

Glenfield 75 - Mod 60 with Carbine length barrel and tube magazine ends just past the stock

Glenfield 75C - Carbine - Like the 75, but with a longer magazine.

Glenfield 99G - Glenfield - Was told the Brophy book o' Marlins says that a "G" suffix means Glenfield

Marlin 49 - Marlin 60 with two-piece stock, blued finish

Marlin 5 - Mod 60 sold through Big 5 Sporting Goods

Marlin 600 - Another Mod 60 sold through Big 5, unknown difference from Marlin 5

Marlin 99 - Mod 60 Predecessor - Drilled, not grooved, receiver, ballard rifling instead of newer MicroGroove , otherwise same as Mod 60

Marlin Model 99DL - a fancier version of the Model 99, Produced from 1960-1964, 5,279 produced

Marlin 99M1 - Mod 99 with Stock/Barrel shaped and cut to resemble M1 Carbine of WWII fame

Marlin 99C - Mod 99 with newly introduced MicroGroove rifling, replaced Ballard cut rifling, but still pre-Mod 60

Marlin 990 - Mod 60 with a walnut stock

Marlin 990L - Mod 60 with a laminate stock

Montgomery Wards Western Field Model 50- Unknown details

Otasco Model 65 - Produced in 1968, 44,369 made

Otasco Golden 50 - With a brass outer magazine tube, produced from 1971-1974, 7,576 made total.

Otasco 6060 - Produced in 1978, Diamond Jubilee medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6079 - Produced in 1979, American Hunting Tradition medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6080 - Produced in 1980, Trail Rider medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6081 - Produced in 1981, The Alamo medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6082 - Produced in 1982, Cavalry medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6083 - Produced in 1983, Wagon Train medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6084 - Produced in 1984, Mountain Man medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6085 - Produced in 1985, Round Up medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6086 - Produced in 1986, Round Up medallion inlaid in stock

Otasco 6087 - Produced in 1987, Long Horn medallion inlaid in stock

Ranger Model 34 - Sears brand Mod 60

Revelation 120 - Mod 60 sold through Western Auto

Woolco Model 75-20 - Produced in 1982, 8,605 made.

Notes regarding the Deluxe model prefix from Marlin employee:

By error the first 200 rifles have a special serial number due to an oops/mistake in the serial # setting in the laser engraving machine. The first 200 rifles only have 3 numeric digits as follows, 60DLX000 thru 200 as compared to 60DL0201 thru 9999. When I programmed the laser software, I was informed we were only going to make 500-1000 of these rifles and took it for granted that the serial # started with 60DLX. At the 200 mark I noticed on the engineering spec sheet the serial number “was supposed to be 60DL0001” not 60DLX001. Since they wanted to now exceed 1000 rifles, there was not enough room for 9 digits. I had to drop the X out of the serial number to make room for the 4 numeric digits for a total of 8 digits. This change was made at the 201th receiver. The new revised serial # never started at 60DL0000, it started at 60DL0201.*

Marlin originally had plans on only selling 1000 but had great feedback from the sales force that sales would be a big hit, so they extended production to higher numbers. There was no 1000 pre-production run, but as stated before it was in Marlins original plans to only run 1000.*It explains how the prefix having "DLX" was only used for the first 200 specimens, while the rest would only include "DL" within the prefix. The former employee informs as to why this is the case..

Yeah, he didn't offer anything beyond what I posted above. But, he was certain that the initially planned one thousand specimens in this anniversary edition (the 200 having DLX in the prefix, and the next 800 having only the DL in the prefix) were made at Marlin's North Haven factory. He was not sure when the exact cut-off was, but it seems sometime after the 1000 mark. I would imagine that the most sought after by Collectors in the future, will be those
first 200 with DLX in their prefix, and then the other 800 North Haven made guns having only the DL in their prefix, which I believe will be pretty sought after as well. They were obviously some of the last Model 60 rifles to come out of that factory, and actually manufactured by the North Haven staff.

Custom Marlin Model 60/70 Rifles

A big THANK YOU to all our brothers and sisters who served our country.

Remember to fly Old Glory at sunrise!

Even though Marlin made more model 60's then Ruger made 10/22s and the Marlin has a very dedicated following, the aftermarket support was always inadequate in my opinion. This combined with the great out of the box precision the Marlin was known for makes it difficult to find customized Marlin model 60s. Perhaps they were so close to perfection out of the box that people felt no need to customize them.

I have modified a couple, so I went in search of some additional customized model 60s for you. 

This first one comes from the mind of a man named Axel, he took two model 60s and installed them 180 degrees clocked from one another, hooked them up to a single trigger and created a one-of-a-kind, futuristic looking weapon.

Read more here.

This next one comes from the Rimfire Central forums, the owner created a sweet 2006 vintage model 60.

The owner started with a Boyd's Pepper laminate thumb hole stock, then coated it with Brownells Matte Clear Arca-Coat.

He then replaced the T-nut for the front trigger guard screw with a threaded insert.

A BSA 3-9 -40X AO Sweet 22 scope sits on Leaper's Accushot medium height one-piece scope mount.

The trigger/trigger guard and charging handle are from DIP.

A J&P spring kit was installed and the sear was worked over, along with adjustments to the DIP trigger provided a 2 lb 10oz trigger pull.

The bolt release was swapped for a nickel plated one from the stainless version of the model 60.

The magazine tube was rotated so the cartridge window is next to the barrel, to ease loading and the mad tube band was swapped for a nickel plated one.

Another customized model 60, this one is from the 2000s, a model 60 SB which is stainless and has a thicker barrel with no sights.

The owner had been making custom charging handles and his gun features one of these.

The next one has a Boyd's Rimfire Hunter laminate stock in "pepper" color, along with a DIP Trigger & Trigger guard. The scope rail is also a DIP item, the scope is a 3-9 x 40mm with a red dot mounted to the top.

The bipod is a modified UTG unit, perfectly mounted so it matches the stock length when folded.

This next one came with no description, but by the looks of it is a pre-1984 model (no LSHO). Someone has painted or cerakoted the rifle in a matte robin's egg blue, then added a suppressor that has a narrow enough diameter to allow the use of the tube magazine.

Another one from the Rimfire Central forum, this one is a 1990s vintage with the 15 round magazine and 22" long barrel.

The owner installed a DIP trigger guard along with a KAT trigger system using Arrowdodger parts. The Scope is a Mueller 8.5-25x 50mm. He then installed the rifle in a Boyd's thumbhole laminated stock.

This one is one of the most unique model 60s ever. The owner built his own receiver and trigger housing from steel, he then color case hardened them. The stock is home made from walnut and the butt plate was made from aluminum and left in the white.

Marlin Model 60 Design Changes

 This is a follow up to my previous on how to date your Marlin Model 60.

1960 - The Model 60 was introduced, a refined and more affordable (to produce and to buy) version of the model 99.

1968 - The Model 60 gets serial numbers courtesy of the 1968 Gun Control Act 

1976 - the 2-piece feed throat was changed to a one-piece, the two are not completely interchangeable, you will need to change the cartridge lifter and lifter spring to make a new one piece fit in a gun made prior to 1976.

1976 - Marlin changed the front sight and magazine attachment, the old style used a one-piece sight and mag tube holder. The new ones used an under-barrel mag tube ring and a separate ramp sight.

1977 - Marlin changed the trigger guards, the oldest ones were aluminum and used three screws, they then went to plastic ones with two screws.

1980 - change to hammer & bolt??

1981 - The action retention system was changed, prior to 1981 the action was held in by two plastic pins, after 1981, the front used a metal pin the front trunnion that supported and aligned the front of the action, the rear plastic pin remained. You can use a newer action on an older rifle, simply find the correct size roll pin to replace the forward plastic pin.

1981 - The trigger guards were changed again, the new ones were thicker (middle one in pic below), in 1984 they added the slot for the Last Shot Hold Open (top one in pic below). The middle one is from a 1981 vintage rifle, and the bottom one is from a 60's vintage with the three screws.

1983 - Marlin ceases the use of the Glenfield name, that same year they stopped putting the checkering, oak leaf and squirrel embossing on the stocks (save for special editions).

1984 - the Last Shot Hold Open feature was added to the Model 60, a feature many consider to be the best update.

1985 - Marlin added the "mystery screw" to the bottom of the wrist (behind the trigger guard) it was added to strengthen the area that was prone to cracking.

1988 - The magazine was shortened from an 18-round capacity to a 15-round capacity, the magazine was now considerably shorter than the 22" barrel.

1999 - The barrel was shortened from 22" to 19" to match the shorter magazine.

2005 - the bolt handle changed, the older ones were hooked shaped and thicker (.401"), the newer ones are spindle shaped and thinner (.375").

The Venerable Marlin Model 60

Twice (in 2018 & 2020) we dedicated the month of November to the Marlin model 60. This month we are doing the same, well part of the month anyway. 

The venerable model 60, where to start? 11 Million units produced over 60 years (1960-2020), making it one of the longest produced and most produced guns in American history.

They were made in four cities in three different states, starting in 1960 in the old New Haven Connecticut plant, then in 1968 they moved to the modern North Haven plant just up the highway. When Marlin sold to Remington in 2010 the North Haven plant was closed and production moved to Mayfield Kentucy, then just before Remington went bankrupt production moved again to Huntsville Alabama.

Collectors seek out the earlier models, made in New Haven or North Haven with the "JM" stamp on the barrel.

Affordable, accurate, precise, easy to use, what is not to like about them? They have quite the following, even more so now that they are out of production.

Posts regarding the model 60:

Featured Gun: The Marlin Glenfield Model 60 

How to Date your Marlin Model 60

Marlin Model 60 Mods

Marlin Model 60 Upgrades

Marlin Model 60 Gun Porn

Marlin Model 60 Gun Porn II

Projects:

I made a trade for this Marlin model 70 Papoose, I was intrigued by the custom stock, I still do not know who made it or if it was a custom one-of-a-kind design.

I recently acquired this project, it is a model 60 brand labeled as a Coast to Coast model 40, and supposedly quite rare, I am told that only 2109 of these were made in 1974. I only have the barrel, magazine, receiver and bolt.

I have this 1981 vintage model 60 that I basically got for free, it was in a package deal with a S&W Model 29 and a Remington 11-48 shotgun. The stock has a bad crack in the wrist, which has been glued, but it is ugly and I don't trust it.

I bought this factory Marlin walnut stock on ebay, I am not thinking of building another "deluxe edition" like the Super Deluxe Edition, maybe call this one the "Classic Deluxe Edition"?

The Marlin Model 60 Night Prowler Project

I took a rusty, beat-up model 60 that I paid $50 for and made a critter getter.

Then I tried my hand at building a custom pistol grip stock

before completely rebuilding the gun using a Badger bullpup stock

Project Night Prowler Redux pt. 5

Perhaps one of my most inventive projects, I took another $50 gun show find and turned it into the legendary Marlin Model 60 Super Deluxe Project

Model 60s/70s I no longer own:

My first actual rifle was a Marlin model 70, I bought it at Big 5 Sporting Goods in Burien WA, for $99 in 1991

I made a trade for this 2001 vintage model 60 with a pressed checkered stock, I can't remember why or when I sold it.

I paid $120 for this 2004 vintage model 60SB also with a pressed checkered stock, I traded it for $400 worth of gun parts, most of which I sold to fund other projects.