I'd pass as well. I agree with your choice of a tube-fed model. So many box mags hang out so far they make a rifle hard to carry, and oogly. They can be hard to find, though.
For quite some time, Marlin has included a 4-shot and a 7-shot magazine with the "clip-fed" 22 Magnums. I don't like the 7-shot magazines either and wish that Marlin would offer a 4-shot magazine for the rifles chambered in 17HM2 and 22LR.
I bought each of my kids the Marlin 981TS, tube-fed/stainless/synthetic rifles back in 2010 and they really like to shoot them, particularly with a full magazine of 22 shorts.
