The way it was explained to me:
At the Marlin factory there were old hands that new how to assemble their rifles. When Remington and Marlin merged the old hands were lost. Marlin had poor drawings and I insufficient or in complete drawings. The first Remington Marlins were not so nice since Remington manufactures strictly on detailed drawings.
The new Remington Marlins are manufactured to corrected drawings.
There are few if any errors in the new rifles.
My first rifle was a Marlin 57 after a stint with a single shot 22. The Marlin was a 22 that looked a lot like Savage 99's. It was a very accurate rifle. The trigger pull was immeasurable. My dad, a mechanical engineer and a good gunsmith, was sure the safety was on. He wanted to send it back with comments. But my brother and I walked bean fields all summer and we wanted a lever action. So dad stoned surfaces and eliminated reverse angles and got the trigger to about 5 lb.
eventually the rifle shot hot powder back to the shooters eyes. I can't say I was impressed with old Marlin quality or design.
