I guess my Marlin 60 is old school. It is not the best design, and compared to the whole array of options in .22 lr, it's probably considered junk by a lot of people. I like not having to keep track of magazines, but I don't like having my hand in front of the muzzle while loading. It was the first gun I ever bought, and if I was doing it all over again I'd get a 10/22 instead. Still, the Marlin is fun to shoot and I can kill stuff with it, so I guess it's effective.