I originally posted this in GD, but I figured some here may find it interesting, so here it is-
There's been a lot of discussion about the, uhhm... decline in the quality in Marlin rifles after their procurement by Remington, but I I haven't seen too many pics. So I took some today.
For comparison, I've got a later model Remington built 336, and an old, well-used Marlin 30AW from Marlin's North Haven, CT days. For those who don't know, the 30AW was Marlin's budget model.
The Marlington is on the left, the 30AW is on the right. The 30AW is short some checkering on the wood, but it's evident that both the wood and the metalwork on the 30AW were finished to a higher degree of polish. It also looks like the wood on the 30AW is one solid piece, and the wood on the Marlington is the sort of laminate found on Remington 870s.
At a closer look, the fit of the wood doesn't look too hot on the Marlington compared to the old 30AW...
The difference gets a bit more pronounced down by the tang.
The old 30AW has a gold trigger for whatever reason. That detail didn't make it to the Remington Marlin.
Things don't get much better for the Marlington when you look at it from the side, either.
The gap between the steel and wood is significant, and those half-ass proof marks look like something I'd find on one of my Mosin Nagants. They're cool on a Mosin... not so much on a rifle produced on what's supposed to be a modern production line in a developed nation. The JM mark on the 30AW is good and clear.
It's also at this point that the difference in finish becomes more obvious. The 30AW hasn't had an easy life, but you can see that when it was built, it received a basic level of polishing before being blued. It's obviously not on the level of something like a S&W Model 27, but it's a decent finish, and it shows somebody cared. It doesn't appear that any such investment was made on the Marlington 336. I can't quite tell, but the 336 might have that classic Remington "rusts if you look at it wrong" finish. I think that would be more evident if this example had more field time.
The other side is more of the same.
The difference isn't only cosmetic. I suppose the Remington built Marlin would function okay, but the action and the trigger is clearly rougher and grittier than the 30AWs. I suppose wear could account for some of the difference, but certainly not all. The difference is substantial.
As a bonus, here's a pic of another 336. Remington is so proud they built it, they proof marked it twice-