The screw went into 45. It kept 45 from coming out of 43. However, 43 fell out of the receiver. Part 46 is on the opposite end of the receiver from 28. Thus the whole assembly slid out.
Before I could find the larger pin I tried several ways to keep that tube in.
Granted the new pin works and it is keeping the tube in the receiver.
I have the rifle on my lap and if you'd like I could take pictures of this assembly to prove what I'm saying.
I'm just saying that many of the early Marlins were not as good as later ones. The rifles have improved, but there was a lot of room for improvement. My model 57 was bought in the 60's or late 50's. That rifle had many problems.
The Remington Marlins look better (IMHO), they are made more consistently. The old Marlins were fitted by talented people but Marlin needed engineers to keep things consistant. They also improved the rifles by trial and error.
Again they had too few engineers for too long in my opinion. But that is my opinion based on my experience.
I have no issues with others that think the old Marlins were great. I don't.
