Hi all, I have been searching for info on my situation to no luck. My Dad just gave me his marlin model 99c after it started shooting wild, he replaced his and gave me the challenge. This rifle is as old as I am been used on the trap line for years and my Dad admitted he has not cleaned it in years. I set about cleaning it, and borrowed a friends snake. After copious amounts of solvent and pads I finally ran the snake down the barrel. When I withdrew it small pieces of metal dropped.on the floor, little flakes that were grey in color. There was a few grams in total, which I didn't keep due to my wife being a fantastic house cleaner and me not great at putting things away. My colleague says that's rifling coming out, I should not even test fire the rifle. I am confused now and would like to know what u all think. Cheers
"Hadn't been cleaned in years..." You are seeing lead flakes from never having been cleaned. Swab her out real good, then look through the bore. If all looks well, take her out and test fire. Should shoot better now with the fouling removed! It is nearly impossible to 'shoot out' a .22LR barrel.
Bingo!! Right in one, Bigdog57 OP- The things you may want to consider are replacing the springs with a J&P Marlin 60 spring kit... and the Buffer...wouldn't hurt to put a new tube mag spring in either...or at least have one on standby. But the action springs & buffer are more than likely worn out...especially since the 99C was made from 1962-1978. Do a search for "Arrowdodger's Marlin 60 action disassembly"...lotsa pics with good instructions. That'll get you thru the spring/buffer change without any major headaches.
It is going to take some work and a couple of bore brushes a good Cleaning Rod, patches and good a good solvent to get that out. Just DO Not take anyone's advise to shoot the jacketed rounds through it to help clean it! NO DO NOT!. It is because as Big Dog advised he had been shooting the old soft lead 22 bullets through it for years. They were not jacketed like the new bullets are. Keep Scrubbing!!! It should be fine when you get the bore completely clean. 03
Agree with above. Also find more intelligent colleague. The soft lead bullets are MUCH softer than the steel of the barrel. You are undoing years of "deferred maintenance". It will take time and patience. Good bore cleaner, brush, patches, repeat. and repeat. and repeat. Avoid power tools, drain cleaner, thermite, or industrial furnaces. Time and patience. Your friend sounds a bit like the guy (back in my teens) that told me I would strain my rifle by shooting at squirrels at the top of trees.
I bought a mossberg 22 bolt action, got it for $75 it looked like it had no rifling. Got home ran a brush through the barrel 100 times rifling wasn't that bad on the gun at all it just hadn't been cleaned in 30 years. Accurate rifle good shooter even found a peep sight to go on it. Clean the hell out every part of the rifle and it should be good.
i use this Cylinder & Slide Deleading Wool Metal Gun Cleaning Pad - MidwayUSA on my shotguns. after 500 rounds in a afternoon of skeet or trap the bores get very very fouled. works awesome
Hi and thanks to all. I will keep at it. My wife may get tired of me working on it, but I want to teach her to shoot as well. I managed to get her to like fishing so shooting should be easy!
How to instantly get your wife into guns... Buy a beater Marlin 60 with long mag tube & a Boyd's thumbhole "Natural" unfinished stock & stain it Pink... Add a Pink DIP Trigger Guard... Duracoat the action & barrel in Pink...add a Bipod & a nice Pink scope...and she'll LUV it Hrm...at this point I just suddenly realized I need to take some new pics of the current setup...with everything installed... but I have to pry it out of my wifey's hands...cause she'll shoot me if I try to take her pic holding a gun, because she thinks the school board would go bananas over it...(wifey is an untenured elementary school teacher) Anyway, show yer wifey a
Oh, or there's the Hello Kitty PLR... The Taurus 24/7-C in Pink... Or a Walther P22 with a pink silencer on it...hehehe Or the Olympic Arms Whitney Wolverine in pink... There are options out there...ya just gotta open her mind up to them by going in her color scheme!!
It will take quite some time and elbow grease to get the barrel CLEAN. You may need to plug the chamber and fill the barrel with a solvent like Shooter's Choice to dislodge the most stubborn of the lead residue. I agree, your friend is very misguided and ill informed.
You may find that newer bore solvents from Hoppe's and others that use aerosol foam will speed the cleaning job. Shooting galleries of many year ago fillled the plugged barrels of .22s with mercury which disolved the lead, but is hazardous to work with.
Push comes to shove, plug barrel, fill with KROIL, let stand 24 hours. Will actually penetrate between lead and steel, or between copper and steel. Will not etch a bore the way some cleaners will. Penetrating oil on steroids. The shooting galleries did not give a crap about accuracy- but military armorers did use the mercury treatment. There was also an over the counter ointment used to kill body and pubic lice called Blue Ointment- used to contain mercury- and was used to de-lead many a barrel.
I have de-leaded many barrels over the years using mercury and still occasionally use it today as a last resort. Much care must be taken when using mercury, one drop on the floor can contaminate your entire shop. I do not recemend using mercury for the non-professional. Jim.........
Success Thanks for all the advice, I think I will stay away from the mercury for now at least. I am sure that there are few other rifles in need of attention at the farm... I used solvent and old fashioned elbow grease and patience. Cleared out the action, the mechanism and the barrel. Took it out for an afternoon of shooting, and was frustrated by way high shots. I removed the bushnell scope, and grouped 10 shots in 2 inches with the iron sites so I think its pretty clear the rifle still shoots well just the shooters eyes have aged a lot! I am now going to purchase a new scope and will have great way to spend the odd afternoon. Cheers all!
My uncle gave me the marlin 882 ss .22 mag n my picture and it was that way. The way I fixed that issue was bout 3 hours w rod and brush and a whole 12 oz can of powder blaster by wichester
