Originally Posted by
SwampCollie
And even the new bargain lines are not exactly cheap. Pick up a new production Marlin 336... with that god awful Remington finish and that unsightly OSB wood stock... feel like a paddle, finished like a deck on a mobile home and fits like hand-me-down boots....$450??? Negative... if I wanted a lever... I would GLADLY pay that same amount for an older Marlin or Winchester than that for a new Marlin.
Yup, I've been a Marlin advocate all my life (every man in my family owns/owned a Marlin 1984 .44mag for 4 generations now). Built a few dozen of them when I was cowboy action shooting for different competitors, knocked down a load of deer with Marlin 1985's and 1984's. In no plainer English, it's an F'ing crime what Remington did to them.
If there's not a JM on the barrel, I'm not interested.
I'm not old enough to tell too many stories about back when a nickel would buy you a candy bar by any means (did pay 59cents a gallon for gas once though), but I'm old enough that when I bought MY Marlin 1984 .44mag, I paid $240 new in box. My sister bought one for her husband the year that Remington bought them out, $450.
Haven't decided whether my son will be getting a used Marlin-Marlin, or whether I'll be rebuilding him a Remington-Marlin 1984, but I do know he's not getting any Marlington abomination without serious work done to it.