Actually no, I called it a bargain Marlin because I got it for $334. instead of the $570. I was quoted (By only one dealer). Thats a pretty good bargain in my book!

As for the hardwood stock, its the same hardwood stock that Marlin uses on their good ol Model 60 rod load .22. Of which I gave to both of my sons as their first firearms several years ago. I have every faith in the stock, I looked it over and its straight and well fit.

The only thing I noticed was that the bolt didn't seem to close quite flush and I was a little curious about the headspacing. But as I noted in my post, its a Marlin with the Marlin guarantee. If that turns out to be a problem, I'm sure they'll fix it up.

Please excuse my wondering out loud, I don't have the rifle yet, (10 day wait) so I haven't been able to try it out. I have found a few things on the internet that identified a few minor problems and a really cool cowboy shooting website that had some Marlin Fix tips. So I was just curious if anyone here had some feedback.