"Here is some information & trivia I thought you might find interesting and useful. I knew this was going to be a topic/discussion someday, so here is an explanation of what happened at Marlin with the serial numbers. I was the manufacturing engineer on this project and this rifle was my responsibility to get it into production.*

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...

The first 200 rifles have their own special serial numbers which I believe make them even rarer to own. I guess that’s pretty cool for people who own them. This info provided is merely to help with the understanding and methodology of the serial numbers.*

 

I copied and pasted the above information. I have no affiliation with Marlin Firearms, other than my unwavering love for them. I also own a Marlin Model 60 DLX with serial number under 100. Mine was made in the first year of manufacture, in 2010. My serial number on the receiver begins with DLX0XX.

 

Marlin 60DLX --- 2010-2013 ( mid 2011 on, no date codes) --- .22 long rifle, 19” barrel, 14 shot, gold plated trigger, manual bolt hold-open device, last shot bolt hold open, checkered American walnut hardwood stock, swivel studs, adjustable semi-buckhorn folding rear, ramp front sight with wide-scan hood, grooved for tip-off scope mounts, receiver is engraved “50th Anniversary Edition” with gold fill, new style mag tube closure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I think this is all the info I have found.

 

Thanks Turbojet, according to that info, mine is early 2nd run. It has the gold accents and 50th anniversary engraved on the left side, except my gold trigger unit has gone astray. The stock is walnut for sure and it looks like someone took decent care of it but neglected to clean it. I'm borrowing a trigger group from one of my other rifles and taking it to the range today and shoot it, I'll post a pic later today. Thank you for all that information on the DLX.

 

You are welcome! Looking forward to the pics. Let us know how it went.

 

I often wish I'd hung on to mine, short sighted...

 

I ran 90 rounds through her, no issues and quite accurate, 1/2" at 50 and that's good enough for me.

 

Good job. Happy for you. Gold trigger assembly. e-bay
marlin model 60 trigger guard assembly New Style BHO Model
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Pre-Owned
$39.95
1 bid · Time left2d 23h left (Sat, 01:13 PM)
+$6.00 delivery

 

I went the DIP route and ordered a complete aluminum trigger housing with trigger and safety. Supposedly they shipped it but my post office has abysmal service, no telling when it will arrive.

 

Did Marlin ever produce a 60DLX without the "50th anniversary" engraved on the left side? I understand they had a first and second run of these. A local shop close to me has one (not engraved) like that and I believe it's a Mayfield rifle, it has a walnut stock and gold trigger, anyone know?

 

Yes they did make a Mayfield manufactured DLX. I was with a buddy of mine at Cabelas when he purchased it. From what I remember it has a nice walnut stock with the gold trigger.

 

It looks a bit rough.