Actually, NOW, the Marlins are getting better again. When Remington first bought Marlin, there were a lot of fitment issues with both the 'parts guns' that were assembled from old Marlin made inventory and from the 'remington first run' new production weapons after they moved the equipment and started building in Illion.

I've handled a few, and bought a few, of the new manufacture Remlins that are pretty well on par with the late model JM Marlins made in the last years at Connecticut.

But there were, without a doubt, a lot of growing pains when Remington first took over. I was in the market for a 3rd Marlin 1895 Guide Gun (or SBL) for a couple years before I found one in proper form to bring home. I saw a couple on the shelf that I didn't even consider safe to fire, let alone terrible fitment of the stocks, or even mismatching colors between the forend and the buttstock. I even saw one 1895 (blued and long barrel, so I had no interest) that had a checkered buttstock and a slick forend!

Luckily for the Marlin brand and my beloved 1894 and 1895 rifles, Remington seems to have gotten their act together.

Now, as for the quality of finish on the SPS's and ADL's, well, that's another story... I have every confidence that it will withstand the years, but when a gun's finish starts life looking like a dogs @sshole, you know it won't ever look any better than that...