Categories
Category: All About Guns
Categories
Inside a British Gun Store…
Some of the most extraordinary firearms were not designed by trained engineers. Samuel Colt was a youthful seaman on the sailing ship Corvo when, inspired by the ship’s capstan, he first contrived the revolving cylinder pistol that would change the world. The esteemed firearms luminary John Moses Browning designed every rifle-caliber automatic weapon used by US forces in World War 2. He learned his trade by working in his father’s gun shop starting at age 13.
Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov dropped out of school after seventh grade to become a tractor mechanic. The rifle he designed became the most-produced firearm in human history. There are more than 100 million copies in service. And then there was Ronnie Barrett. The father of what is arguably the manliest man-portable gun ever made was originally trained as a photographer.
Origin Story
Ronnie Barrett was born in Murfreesboro, TN, in 1954. He opened his photography studio in 1974. Ten years later he was photographing a river patrol gunboat on the Stones River outside of Nashville when he was captivated by the vessel’s twin Browning .50-caliber machineguns. Intrigued, Ronnie began pondering the concept of a man-portable rifle chambered for the massive .50 BMG cartridge.
With no engineering experience whatsoever, Barrett began sketching out ideas. These he took to a tool and die maker in Smyrna, GA, named Bob Mitchell.
Together, they bodged together a prototype in four months. He took a second prototype to a gun show in Houston, TX, with the express purpose of finding investors to create a manufacturing company. Three adventurous souls signed on, and Barrett Firearms Manufacturing was born.
The first production lot was for thirty guns for private sale. However, the CIA heard about the guns and contracted for an unknown number of the M82 semiautomatic .50-caliber anti-materiel rifles for use by Afghan mujahideen in their fight against the Soviets. In 1989, the Swedish Army adopted the M82 as a sniper rifle. The US military followed suit the following year. These rifles subsequently saw action in Operation Desert Storm.
The US Marine Corps bought the first lot of 125 weapons and designated them the M82A1 SASR or Special Applications Scoped Rifle. These guns were used as both anti-materiel weapons as well as explosive ordnance disposal tools.
Back when I was a soldier in the early 1990’s, we shared an arms room with the post EOD detachment. They had two Barretts that they fed by delinking belted .50 BMG rounds by hand.
Since that time, Ronnie Barrett’s amazing big-bore sniper rifles have found their way all around the world. They have been adopted by the military and police forces of at least thirty nations and have sold widely on the civilian market.
The basic chassis has been adapted into a bullpup weapon called the XM500. It was also used as the basis for the XM109 “Payload Rifle.” The XM109 sports a shorter barrel and fires 25mm high explosive rounds. While this remarkable gun was undeniably effective, recoil turned out to be more than a typical human operator could manage.
Mechanical Details
The mechanical challenge was obviously in contriving some sort of autoloading action that could mitigate the recoil from the .50 BMG round into something manageable by a single operator firing off of a bipod. The Browning-designed M2 HB air-cooled, belt-fed machinegun weighs 84 pounds stripped and is designed to be fired off of fixed mounts. This was a tall order.
If you haven’t had much experience with it, the .50 BMG round is an absolutely beast of a cartridge. Measuring out at 12.7x99mm, the .50 BMG looks like a .30-06 on steroids. The bullet fired from a typical M33 ball round weighs a whopping 660 grains and travels at around 3,000 fps at the muzzle. To tame that monster, Ronnie Barrett drew inspiration from some curious spaces.
John Browning held 127 gun-related patents when he keeled over of heart failure at his work bench in Liege, Belgium, at age 71. In addition to the Browning Automatic Rifle, the M1911 pistol, and the M1917 and M1919 machineguns, he also designed a variety of civilian lever-action and slide-action weapons. He also developed the .25ACP, the .32ACP, the .380ACP, and the .45ACP cartridges, to name but a few. Among all of those amazing inventions, Browning himself stated that he was most proud of his Auto-5 shotgun. That rascal was a thing of mechanical beauty.
Source Material
The Auto-5 is a recoil-operated semiautomatic shotgun. There are some fundamental differences between the action of the Auto-5 and that of the M82, but they share a common mechanical philosophy. At the moment of firing, the barrel and bolt of both guns recoil a short distance rearward together. The combined mass of these two components helps mitigate the ferocity of the both the 12-gauge shotgun round as well as the .50 BMG.
In each case, the barrel ceases its rearward travel and then is returned back into battery by its own recoil spring system. Then the bolt continues its rearward trek, ejects the empty case or hull, and returns forward under spring pressure. The Auto-5 feeds a fresh shell from an under-barrel tubular magazine. The M82 feeds from a pressed steel 10-round box.
There are specific design details incorporated into each weapon to keep the guns balanced and reliable. The Auto-5 uses a series of fairly complicated bevel rings and friction pieces that can be tuned to the specific load. The M82 uses an accelerator system to keep the chaos in check. The Barrett also utilizes a massive mechanical muzzle brake that tends to redirect muzzle blast and retard recoil forces. These brakes come in two different designs based upon the specifics of the weapon.
Practical Tactical
I saved up forever to buy my M82A1 and eventually found one on sale with a Leupold Mk V scope. The gun weighs around 30 pounds stripped. Barrels come in either 20 or 29-inch versions. Regardless of the particulars, hefting one of these monsters for the first time is a sobering experience.
Stuffing that ten-round magazine will humble you as well. Cheap blasting bullets run about $3 a pop. The really good stuff is closer to $9. All of it is just stupid huge.
The actual shooting experience is indeed unique. That big honking harmonica muzzle brake throws crap up in the air like a toddler with leaf blower. Sitting next to somebody as they shoot this thing really will reliably clear your sinuses. I swear I can feel it in my teeth.
However, the space behind the gun remains fairly placid. I’d liken it someplace between a 20 and a 12-gauge. The recoil force is more of a shove than a shock. I’ve had little kids shoot mine, and nobody left traumatized.
This is a long-range precision rifle that is fully capable of engaging targets out past a kilometer. At least that’s what I had read before I dumped a zillion bucks on mine. Then I took my gun out to a friend’s 1,300-meter range and was sorely disappointed.
This is a magnificent facility with a nice elevated shooting platform and steel targets at known distances. I started out establishing a zero at 100 meters and struggled to keep my rounds in a dessert plate.
It was an ignominious start to the day. About twenty rounds later, I was just sick. If I couldn’t group better than this at a football field, I would just be peppering the countryside at a grid square distant.
A friend then asked what kind of ammo I was shooting. It was the cheapest safe .50 BMG I could find. I had bought 100 rounds of delinked GI ball for $300. On a whim I swapped to some of my precious Hornady A-Max, and the angels began singing. These 750-grain bonded metallic-tip rounds are the aforementioned good stuff. I then proceeded to put three rounds into a single contiguous hole.
A-Max isn’t cheap, but it performs. Shooting this awesome ammo, I was on steel at 1,000 meters in three rounds and kept the plate bouncing until I ran out of bullets. The take-home message is that the nicest gun in the world will shoot like crap if you feed it crap ammo. My Barrett M82A1 is indeed everything it was made out to be.
War Stories
I have two friends who have used the M82 operationally. One was a sniper in a leg infantry unit. The other served in a similar role in the Ranger Regiment. Both men used the gun in Afghanistan. They both gave it mixed marks.
The weapons shot plenty straight and carried energy out farther than any other man-portable weapons in the arms room.
However, humping that enormous rifle, even broken down into a two-man load, was obviously a dreadful butt-whooping. The infantry guy described scaling a rocky mountain with the thing cursing the whole way up and back. However, keep in mind that grunts do naturally curse a lot.
Curiously, the Ranger sniper’s primary gripe was with the noise it made. He said it created such a massive boom that everybody in the surrounding area knew it was running. Their sound-suppressed bolt guns brought much of the same capability in a more stealthy, more portable package.
Regardless, I love mine. Lug this beast out to the range and expect to make all kinds of new friends. Cheap ammo is still a reliable crowd-pleaser. I save my A-Max for that inevitable day when the zombies come. The breathtaking Barrett M82A1 means not having to say you’re sorry in any of the world’s recognized languages. And to think that this amazing gun was built by a professional photographer. Well done, Mr. Barrett.
The Marlin Model 60—in this case, a 60W with gold trigger and medallion in the stock— is one of the most popular .22 rifles ever built but even after 11 million guns shipped, Marlin shut down production in 2020.
There are guns you keep because they’re precious, and there are guns you keep because they earn their place. My old Marlin Model 60W sits squarely in the latter camp. For years, it’s been the squirrel rifle I grab before any walk in the underbrush: inexpensive, unpretentious and ready to work. You don’t fuss over it. You don’t polish every inch. You sling it, you hunt with it, you hand it to your kid when it’s time to learn — That’s kinda the point with the Marlin Model 60.
The Model 60 used many designed features of the Marlin Model 99, but the cost-saving brass inner magazine turned out to be a better material for the tubular magazine because it resisted rust, not a bad feature in a “field” gun!
Designed by Edward Nichol and based on the earlier Model 99 platform, the initial Model 60 was introduced under the “Glenfield” sub-brand. It featured several cost-saving measures over its predecessor, including a rust-resistant brass inner tube for the tubular magazine (which turned out to be an improvement), a birchwood stock instead of walnut and a receiver grooved for tip-off scope mounts.
Early models were stamped with “Marlin Model 60G,” later changing to “Marlin Glenfield Model 60” in the late 1960s. They also sold countless private label versions for Sears, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto and others.
Time’s Up
Sadly, if you don’t already own a new Model 60, you’re out of luck. Marlin quit building rimfire rifles in 2020, right before the brand was purchased from Remington by Ruger. As the Ruger-built Marlin centerfire lever actions have literally sparked a resurgence in lever action sales, I can imagine the big brains at Ruger have at least considered bringing back this model that sold over 11 million guns during its run.
Current (used) prices run between $150-200 at the time of writing, with certain special or dolled-up models bringing upwards of $500.
The straight blow-back action of the Model 60 is simple and quite robust. Keep it reasonably clean —
and more importantly, oiled — and it will continue to work until you get tired or run out of ammo.
The story of the Marlin Model 60 is like the sweet spot of where marketing meets practical thinking. Designed by Nichol in — surprise — 1960, it was initially introduced as a simple, reliable, inexpensive tube-fed, direct-blowback semi-automatic .22 LR.
It wasn’t glamorous or especially prized, but what the Model 60 lacked in pizzazz was more than made up for by the fact that it was an awful lot of rifle for not much money. It wasn’t trying to be an art piece; it was an everyday tool, and it hit the mark well.
Over the decades that followed, Marlin made small changes to the rifle nearly as often as the wind changed direction. So many, in fact, it’s hard to compile a definitive list without lots of research, and there are still disagreements as you’ll see.
However, the endless variants over the years gave shooters options without changing the fundamental character of the rifle.
Marlin produced everything from stripped-down economy models to nicer wood-stocked trims with better sights and even checkering. Barrel lengths varied; there were factory-scoped versions for precision plinking, and later runs brought stainless finishes and synthetic stocks for the rougher life.
Because of the low cost married to good design and value, you see Model 60s everywhere: at the farm, at the summer cabin, in firearms training programs and in the hands of hunters who want something that will keep putting bullets precisely on target without drama.
The Marlin Micro-roove rifling was cheaper to produce but performed quite well with soft lead .22 bullets.
This is the foundation of Marlin .22s reputation for accuracy.
Groovy Times
A big part of the Model 60’s reputation comes from Marlin’s micro-groove rifling. Instead of a few deep grooves like typical rifling, Marlin cut a greater number of very shallow channels into the bore. The idea was to gently grip the bullet and stabilize it without the deformation that deeper lands can cause on the soft lead .22 bullets.
The result—especially in a ballistically-forgiving cartridge like the .22 LR — is consistently good accuracy. The Micro-groove rifling was also much cheaper to manufacture, as fewer passes of a rifling tool are required. It was truly a win-win situation for this mass-market-appeal rifle.
A typical September morning’s work for Brent’s beloved Marlin Model 60W. With good accuracy in an inexpensive gun you’re not afraid to get dirty, the Model 60 is perfect for hard hunts for small game.
For field work like squirrel hunting, where most of the shots are inside 50 yards, the accuracy of Model 60s is first-rate, especially in light of the cost. Most folks get less than one-inch groups at 50 yards, but if you find the right ammo your particular rifle adores, the scope is decent, all screws are properly torqued, and you’re feeling fine, half-inch groups aren’t out of reach.
Such accuracy is right at 1 MOA, which seems almost impossible with a rifle only a few steps above a BB gun in terms of design and material.
The last time I “officially” measured my rifle, years and years ago, according to an old story I wrote, the group was .7 with run-of-the-mill practice ammo off an improvised rest.
At least a hundred-fold squirrels could equally testify as to its deadliness, but they can’t because they ended up swimming in gravy. In the end, micro-groove rifling gave the Model 60 a real edge in accuracy at a price everyone could afford.
The semi-auto blowback action of the Model 60 isn’t really novice-friendly for gunsmith work, but this gun generally
doesn’t need such pampering. Keep it cleaned and lubed, and it will reward with decades of perfect service.
The value of practicality extends to maintenance. The Model 60 is famously straightforward to keep running even without much in the way of cleaning.
Though the receiver is chock full of levers and springs that aren’t easy for a novice to repair, removing the two action screws takes the metal off wood and lets you lubricate and wipe off the notoriously dirty powder residue of the .22 LR.
However, even if you don’t do this, provided you keep the area around the chamber reasonably clean and the bolt well-lubricated, the Model 60 will run until you get tired of shooting.
Coupled with the fact that parts are widely available and inexpensive, even if you likely have to pay a gunsmith to do the work, the low maintenance and part replacement costs make ownership less injurious to the wallet.
Brent’s rifle is the Model 60W with a medallion embedded in the buttstock saying “Safety, Ethics, Sportsmanship.”
According to various sources, it was probably a joint NRA-Walmart marketing venture to promote shooting sports.
One Man, One Rifle
The particular Model 60W that I own is a special version fitted with a gold trigger and a medallion in the stock saying “Safety, Ethics, Sportsmanship.” Herein starts a controversy I blame on the Internet. According to multiple online sources, the 60W designation stands for “walnut stock.” Um, no, it doesn’t, at least not that I can verify as fact.
I’ve seen this claim on at least one authoritative-looking website along with numerous forum posts. I will consider the possibility there was an earlier Model 60W with a walnut stock but I’ve seen no pictures or other specific data verifying they even exist.
Ultimately, I think this is one of those things where somebody claimed a sheer guess as fact and it became enshrined on the internet. After all, once something has been cited online, it is now the honest and true gospel, regardless of the actual truth.
Brent’s rifle also has a special “golden” trigger. This alone gave the gun a .5 MOA increase in accuracy
(we’re kidding, of course. But, it looks nice!)
“My” Model 60W has a straight birch stock, standard action with 13+1 capacity and was supposedly made exclusively for the big box store that starts with “W” and ends in “-Mart,” at least back when they sold guns. If I remember correctly, that’s indeed where I purchased it nearly 40 years ago.
I’m not sure what the medallion is supposed to symbolize but regardless of the bling, it’s been a faithful companion for decades. One source says the 60W was an NRA co-promotion of general shooting sports with Wally World, and I think this explanation makes sense.
“The Mystery Screw” — The rearward-most screw (Phillips-head on right) represents a significant manufacturing step yet it doesn’t seem to serve a function and doesn’t appear on any gun diagram we’ve seen. Any ideas?
Another mystery item is the rearward-most screw. It is properly inletted into the stock and would appear to be the aft takedown bolt — but it isn’t. Remove it and you’ll have a largish Phillips wood screw that doesn’t seem to secure anything.
I’ve also not seen a takedown diagram yet that shows this screw. If anyone has an idea what it was intended for, let us know because I’m certain Marlin wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of machining out the stock and adding the screw simply for decorative purposes, when it can’t even be seen. I dunno!
A Domestic Partner
What makes the Model 60 feel like a member of the family is not just how it shoots but how it wears. Because the rifle is affordable, it invites use. You don’t baby it. Dings, scratches, and a scuffed stock are badges of time spent outdoors, not reasons to hide it away. There are times when my rifle seems a bit on unattractive side but then I step back and realize it simply has ‘character,’ an elusive and hard-to-earn quality in today’s digital world.
Brent’s Model 60 is certainly “well-loved.” It’s fallen over many times when leaned against fences and logs,
been dropped occasionally and thrashed through countless thickets and downed treetops.
Yet, the inexpensive rifle wears it’s wounds proudly, like the salty old vet of the fields it is.
This cheapness is actually liberating. It’s the rifle you take to the briar patch and don’t lose sleep over when a thorn takes a swipe of the finish. It’s the rifle you hand to a friend who needs to borrow a .22 for some reason.
There’s a cultural element to the Model 60’s ubiquity. A .22 rifle that’s affordable and dependable becomes a rite of passage: first shots, small game seasons, teaching younger shooters firearm safety and respect.
It’s a workhorse in the most literal sense, useful for general shooting fun while ridding the world of evil tin cans at the dump, clearing pests and providing the main ingredient for a squirrel fry in the early fall. You can count on it in the same way you count on a good pair of boots — not flashy, but you’d be shorted without them.
Universal Truths
Call it sentimentality if you like, but there’s a practical poetry to a rifle that earns its patina. My Model 60W has a considerable number of cosmetic scars from years of use, and the stock wrist shows a dim polish that comes from countless hands and winter gloves.
The only problem I’ve had is when I somehow lost the brass inner magazine tube while walking back to the car carrying a couple of tree rats by the tails. One quick search on the internet and a new one was in my mailbox in a few days for the price of a workday lunch. It’s hunting done cheap.
Even as a single-shot until my replacement tube arrived, it still pointed the same, shot the same, and it still got the job done. What more could a shooter want?
For the hunter, when everything comes down to a squirrel peaking through the leaves, accuracy is the only important attribute of a rifle. The Marlin Model 60 offers a plainand simple package which hides the accuracy necessary to take shots like this from 50-yards away.
Ultimately, when you strip things down to the basics, what remains is a rifle with a clear mission — reliability, accuracy enough for the work at hand, that’s cheap to own and keep, and conventional enough that you can hand it to the next generation without a second thought.
This is why I’ll keep calling the Marlin Model 60 the “ultimate workhorse” of .22s. It’s not beloved for being delicate or exclusive or even beautiful in the common sense. It’s purely beloved because it’s always there when you need it — season after season, squirrel after squirrel.