Messin' with my Marlin

[Kelemvor]

This summer I noticed that my Marlin 60 was having a lot of light primer strikes, so I spent a good amount of time fiddling with it. I took it apart and cleaned it, shot it, took it apart and cleaned it again, shot it some more...and so on. I ended up using a file to sharpen the end of the firing pin a little bit and made sure to shoot it a little wet and that has pretty much taken care of the problem.

However, this weekend, when I was up at the Cheatham TWRA (don't ever go there without full body armor...flag city) I was watching my wife shoot and it started acting up again. I watched very closely and discovered that the problem was that the bolt was not closing completely after each shot, which meant the firing pin was just barely touching the cartridge. I sprayed a couple drops of CLP onto the bearing surfaces inside the receiver and it was good to go but I still have an itch that needs scratchin...

I think that a stiffer recoil spring would give the bolt the extra "oomph" that it needs to completely close the breech. The problem being that nobody makes a stiffer recoil spring for a Marlin 60. So the question to you folks is: could I just heat the spring up cherry red and drop it into some water to stiffen it up a bit and take care of the problem?

[Kelemvor]

Hello?

[xd shooter]

How long have you had it & how many rds??

It just might be time to replace it with a factory spring.

The origanal may be getting weak.

Give that a try & let us know.

[RCCsDad]

Have you tried switching ammo? I have had a number of rimfires-many of which were Marlins- that would just not be reliable with one particular ammo, but 100% with another.

Other than that, I would call Marlin or Brownells if they have them and order a new spring.

[Kelemvor]

I've probably put about 1000rds through it. I know I can get a new spring, but there's no guarantee it will be stiffer and I don't want to pay $6 plus another $6 shipping for a half ounce piece of steel. Also, I'm trying to stay under the radar with my gun related purchases, I just bought a case for my AR, so I gotta tread lightly on the credit card.

I heard that Marlin will sometimes send free parts, so I'll call them, but I wonder if there are any metallurgists or whatever out there that know about increasing spring coefficients by simple tempering techniques.

[Guest mikedwood]

I'd try some Miltec1 on it. Apply the Miltec1 like you would oil and then blow it with a hair dryer, do that three times. Then put it back together try it.

[Guest coldblackwind]

I was discussing that very gun with a friend the other day, and he was telling me the experiences he's had with them is that they have that very problem. Fix A is tear the entire gun down, clean thoroughly, and it might fix it. It sounds like you already did that, so plan B is replace the springs. There's a good chance that a replacement factory spring will fix the problem, and while it may not be super stiff, it'll likely be stiffer than the one you have with 1000 rounds through it. Plan C is, as with all semi autos, use plenty of oil. By the way, if you are using federal bulk packs (dunno about the others) I notice that recently that I am getting a TON of light strikes from them in multiple guns that usually don't have a problem with it.

[Oh Shoot]

Tried evenly as possible STRETCHING the spring out?

- OS