Let's hope there is a resurrection of quality, for these American icons, at some point-in-time. Right now, all I can say is: Rest In Peace, Marlin. I have been told that the quality of the rifle's have improved over time, but the last one I looked over, a few weeks ago, did not seem to be too improved. Perhaps they don't have any quality control people, I don't know. I am not sure where the quality control people were, when this rifle escaped the factory. I did not force it, since I was not anxious to have to buy the thing, in case I broke it somehow. I wondered if this was a special order rifle for Jack Elam, but then I remembered he had passed away. I tried to work the lever, but it was stuck tight, in the receiver. Amazingly the front sight was not straight but was canted to the left on the barrel. I have no clue as to what kind of wood it was, it had no grain, that I could see. There were gaps between the "stock" and the metal, that you could fit the edge of a playing card into. I could not tell if it was a type of bluing, or if it was spray painted on. The new Marlington had a dull black finish on the metal. The wood was the American black walnut, and was solid, without any marks or dents. The older Marlin had a rich blue finish, the wood to metal fit was perfect, the action was smooth, but not loose.
I compared them both, right there, to see what was what. One gun shop I visited had an older, used Marlin, that was probably 20 years old, and a brand new one, on the rack. Both rifles were out in the aisle, so anyone could look at them and handle them. I have seen this over and over, at gun shows, and gun shops.
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