Glad to hear of good experiences,

by former hater of plastic, Friday, February 09, 2018, 12:43 (2481 days ago) @ jgt

but part of the experience for many of us is pride in ownership of having a finely crafted thing. And Marlin, today, has gone the way of S&W in my mind, with cast/MIM.

There are those who say we have no choice, and to just suck it up because that is all there is. Personally, I would disagree, as I believe folk should vote with dollars and force makers to turn out good stuff rather than cheaper facsimilies, which DOES happen from time to time. However, folk HAVE voted with their dollars and continue to support things going the way they are.

I will not buy a Remlin, nor a Winku, and DO look high and low to buy a gun made more as the actual gun desired, rather than a shadow of former self, and if too costly, I simply do without, and blame only self for not buying when more widely available.

Marlin, as for on-topic, stayed in the running after the post-64 Winchester changes, and came to dominate, for one reason only....they stayed true to design, and I ended up even going Marlin because of that. How fondly I recall the Marlin ads of only a decade or so back, showing all the forged and machined components in every rifle. Much of which is cast or MIM today, and may as well buy a far nicer looking Winku if one wants that sort of manufacture.

Once I read of post-buy-out Marlin workers going from a single assembler putting together a rifle, and then all benches/stools removed, and them forced to stand at a table with 6 or whatever other people for entire shift and not even allowed a bathroom break without arranging a relief worker as partial rifles passed down line, supervisors forced to discipline/fire workers not meeting quotas, and promises of plant staying open, and then virtual no notice shutdown, pack and move, and workers offered only fast food wages if they relocated. This all goes back to voting with dollars. I will not support such an outfit, and not as if it is the same rifle still being preserved, because it is not. It only LOOKS like one, and only if you squint. This is what happens when money has been flowing in unprecedented amounts into the firearms industry and raiding/profit taking investor groups move in, and my feeling is we should do everything we can to make sure those folk end up homeless and on the street.