Marlin 60 ammo
- Thread starter Red_Eagle
- Start date
I always used to use something like CCI Mini Mags HP when I had Marlins. But any good brand of HP will do the trick, just buy a box of several types and get the HP load that gives best accuracy, then buy a brick or two of that. And don't dally. Rimfire is cheap but all ammo is going up.
CCI Mini-Mag HPs are hands down the best easily available .22LR cartridges I've used. I have five .22s and they all are at their best with this ammo, in accuracy, dependability and small game performance. I don't buy anything else anymore, when they go on sale I stock up.
My second choice is Federal Champion HP. This ammo is quite a bit more economical, but I still like the CCI better. YMMV
I'd stay away from the bulk pack Remington stuff. It's cheap and will be tempting, but I get a lot of duds and inconsistencies with it. What I have left is being donated to Boy Scout camp this summer.
My second choice is Federal Champion HP. This ammo is quite a bit more economical, but I still like the CCI better. YMMV
I'd stay away from the bulk pack Remington stuff. It's cheap and will be tempting, but I get a lot of duds and inconsistencies with it. What I have left is being donated to Boy Scout camp this summer.
chris in va
New member
Yellow Jackets...yup. Bought some at Gander Mountain not long ago. Those suckers are kinda on the hot side!
RedneckFur
New member
All my marlins love Eley Target Rifle (yellow box). Its about $50 per brick, but very much worth it.
Juhosaphat
New member
I used to run bulk pack federal through mine all day and still do. Only a couple light loads and duds per box for me. Accurate out to 25-30 yards, but not so much after that. Before I sold my CZ 452, I was running stingers through it and those things are awesome rounds for a .22LR. Maybe a bit much for a 60, but would be worth a try.
22-rimfire
New member
7" group; holly smokes. That is not good. You have a scope on the rifle?
With that kind of shooting, you need to work on your shooting form perhaps first. Buy some CCI high velocity ammo and some of the 50 round boxes of Federal sold at Walmart and head to the range. You should be getting at worst 2" groups at 50 yds. I strive for 0.5" groups at that distance.
First shoot at 25 yds. Get good at that range and then move back the target to 50 yds. You should have no problem with a scope getting 1" groups at 25 yds consistantly even with bulk pack ammo. At distance, the groups open up with bulk pack ammo as it is not manufactured to as tight a quality control. If your rifle will truly not group any better and have some one else shoot it too, look for another rifle. I can shoot a pistol better than 7" groups at 50 yds.
Try out some Velociters and Stingers. It depends on what you are hunting really just like any caliber and bullet choice. Standard velocity long rifles work just fine in most cases for most small game. Hence, use what shots best (or better) in your rifle. I wouldn't suggest high end target ammo as you are lookling for minute of squirrel accuracy. With 7" groups, I wouldn't even worry about "hunting ammo". You need to improve your shooting some and most LR ammo is suitable for hunting small game.
Added: You list a bunch of calibers. If you shoot rifles in those calibers, what kind of groups do you get with those guns? Is the preformance of the Model 60 much poorer than your other rifles? You need to determine if the groups are because of YOU or the RIFLE. I honestly have never owned a 22 rifle that wouldn't shoot at least 1" at 50 yds and I have quite a few.
With that kind of shooting, you need to work on your shooting form perhaps first. Buy some CCI high velocity ammo and some of the 50 round boxes of Federal sold at Walmart and head to the range. You should be getting at worst 2" groups at 50 yds. I strive for 0.5" groups at that distance.
First shoot at 25 yds. Get good at that range and then move back the target to 50 yds. You should have no problem with a scope getting 1" groups at 25 yds consistantly even with bulk pack ammo. At distance, the groups open up with bulk pack ammo as it is not manufactured to as tight a quality control. If your rifle will truly not group any better and have some one else shoot it too, look for another rifle. I can shoot a pistol better than 7" groups at 50 yds.
Try out some Velociters and Stingers. It depends on what you are hunting really just like any caliber and bullet choice. Standard velocity long rifles work just fine in most cases for most small game. Hence, use what shots best (or better) in your rifle. I wouldn't suggest high end target ammo as you are lookling for minute of squirrel accuracy. With 7" groups, I wouldn't even worry about "hunting ammo". You need to improve your shooting some and most LR ammo is suitable for hunting small game.
Added: You list a bunch of calibers. If you shoot rifles in those calibers, what kind of groups do you get with those guns? Is the preformance of the Model 60 much poorer than your other rifles? You need to determine if the groups are because of YOU or the RIFLE. I honestly have never owned a 22 rifle that wouldn't shoot at least 1" at 50 yds and I have quite a few.
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.22 rifle barrels can like different ammo even among the same brand. You have to buy a bunch of different ammo brands and shoot some targets to find out what any particular gun likes. Generally speaking from my experience, CCI Mini Mags HP, Winchester Dynapoints HP and Federal Bulk 550 HP work well in the broadest number of my guns. I haven't tried all the available stuff out there either. I used to like Dynapoints the best for cost/accuracy however these days CCI has them beat for cost. Federals are great for plinking due to their low cost but you have to expect some duds/fliers. I would only trust the CCI's MM in my rifles for hunting. Remington's bulk I find to be dirty, inconsistent crap. I haven't tried Winchester's X-perts or Wildcats so I can't comment on those. Your rifle may be entirely different so you have to test some out.
Another good excuse for range time if you need one. With retesting you could string this excuse out for years.
Another good excuse for range time if you need one. With retesting you could string this excuse out for years.
3/4" with the 223 and 22-250. About 1-1 1/8" with the 308, 30-06, and my old 270 win. I have a load worked up for the 22 Hornet, but haven't shot it yet. All groups shot at 100 yds.
I had a Daisy Power line 3-9x32mm mounted. I've taken it off. The rings it came with were too high. I had a jaw-to-stock weld instead of a cheek to stock weld. I think that might have contributed to the poor groups. Tonight I picked up some Remington Yellow Jackets and Golden bullets, and some CCI Mini-Mag HPs. I going to the range tomorrow to test some hand loads for my 308 and 30-30. The 22 will give me something to do while the medium bores cool off.
Mine too, including the infamous Thunderbolt ammo even. But, I havent actually tested any of it out to see whats best accuracy-wise in mine yet.
I have only plinked with it since I shipped it from storage at my parents house about a year ago (along with 13 other guns my dad gave me shortly before I left for the Navy, which I left in his safe for the next 5 years until I got out since I knew I'd be moving and/or out to sea too much to want to deal with packing/storing a bunch of guns)
for plinking at cans and paper, and little plastic army men, etc though, it all seems pretty close to the same so far.
crowbeaner
New member
Mine seems to like the WW silver boxes of 50 40 grainers the best. I've tried RP and FC bulk but it doesn't seem to want to eject the Federals and doesn't feed the RPs into the chamber all the way; I have to close the bolt by hand to get them to shoot at all. Not the same as my old small game centennial model; it would eat anything and shot 1/2" groups at 50 with several brands.
22-rimfire
New member
I mounted a scope on a Ruger Super Redhawk 480. I would shoot it at 25 yds, move out to 50 yds and I would be all over the place. At first, I thought it was me. Then I started looking carefully and noticed that my scope was moving and I could not repeat the groups at 25 yds. Ended up putting loctite on the screws and really cranking it tight. Have not had a problem since.
Moral of the story, it may be the scope or the mounts. Your shooting of other guns shows you can shoot and this 22's accuracy is just plain unusual. Some scopes are just junk. They won't hold zero worth a darn. Perhaps this is one of them.
If things don't improve, consider pulling the scope off and shooting with open sights at 10 and 25 yds to see what it shoots like from a bench (good rest). The idea here is to convince yourself that it is not the rifle and hence has to be the scope.
Bushnell makes a 3-9x rimfire scope that runs around $50. It is an okay scope. There are better ones of course, but it's okay. I have new one laying on a shelf that I was going to put on a 22 and then changed my mind for a little better scope. I chose Weaver 2.5-7x rimfire. Good scope.
Yellow jackets, velociters, stingers etc generally don't shoot as good as regular high velocity 22 ammo. You should be able to test the rifle, eventually sight it in with cheaper stuff, then tweak the scope for what you might want to use hunting. Regular CCI high velocity HPs should be just fine. You don't need to shoot up the more expensive stuff until the accuracy issue is solved.
With Remington Thunderbolts, I get around 0.75" groups at 50 yds with one of the rifles I shoot a fair amount. Usually that means 3 or 4 shots pretty tight and one flyer.
It is not the ammo. Good luck with your efforts.
Moral of the story, it may be the scope or the mounts. Your shooting of other guns shows you can shoot and this 22's accuracy is just plain unusual. Some scopes are just junk. They won't hold zero worth a darn. Perhaps this is one of them.
If things don't improve, consider pulling the scope off and shooting with open sights at 10 and 25 yds to see what it shoots like from a bench (good rest). The idea here is to convince yourself that it is not the rifle and hence has to be the scope.
Bushnell makes a 3-9x rimfire scope that runs around $50. It is an okay scope. There are better ones of course, but it's okay. I have new one laying on a shelf that I was going to put on a 22 and then changed my mind for a little better scope. I chose Weaver 2.5-7x rimfire. Good scope.
Yellow jackets, velociters, stingers etc generally don't shoot as good as regular high velocity 22 ammo. You should be able to test the rifle, eventually sight it in with cheaper stuff, then tweak the scope for what you might want to use hunting. Regular CCI high velocity HPs should be just fine. You don't need to shoot up the more expensive stuff until the accuracy issue is solved.
With Remington Thunderbolts, I get around 0.75" groups at 50 yds with one of the rifles I shoot a fair amount. Usually that means 3 or 4 shots pretty tight and one flyer.
It is not the ammo. Good luck with your efforts.