I am kicking myself for not buying the guide gun when I had the chance when you could find them listed on Gunbroker for $350-$400 lightly used prior to being bought by Remington. Now everyone that is selling them are asking inflated prices for them since the quality control issues.

While at SHOT SHOW I picked up the Marlins and obviously these ones were not just picked off the assembly line. They looked like they were all hand fitted and polished internals. I asked the Rep if they all came off the line looking and feeling this good. All he did was smile and say Of course. He did say that yes they had some issues with QC from when they moved the plant and hired new staff to run the equipment but most problems had been sorted out. I will still wait and see before I buy one. Problem is I really want to get my hands on a good 45-70 and Marlin is about the only one out there that has an action strong enough to handle modern +P loads that is reasonably priced.