Next Marlin was a 30-30 the cross pin that held the tube in place would bend until the tube would slide out. Later I found parts from a later Marlin that had a larger cross pin. That rifle is plain also.
With this I just gotta ask, what was holding your mag tube spring plug in ? You know, that little screw that goes through the mag tube, through the mag tube spring plug and into a hole in the uderside of the barrel ? In my experience it'd be pretty tough to get the mag tube out with that screw in place and pretty unlikely to retain the mag tube spring if it's not.
