Hi, new here, but I've had this forum on my main bookmarks for around two years, when I got interested in AR-15s. Owned four, and put together three of them.
As to the new Marlins made by Remington, and Henrys. I now have two of the Marlins made in 2016, and a new Henry 45-70. I had began putting hand loads for the 45-70 together, about six months before I picked up a rifle. Initial thought was to go with the Henry. I had read all the "Remlin" stuff too, as they called them.
While looking at the Henrys, I took a look at the 1895 Marlin octagon barrel 45-70 model. Wood to metal fit was much improved from the pics and videos I had seen. The front sight was mounted on the barrel at the 90 degree up location. The crown looked good, and I put a flashlight in the receiver to get a somewhat look at the barrel and rifling. If anything the finish of the walnut stock wasn't up to the looks of the Henry, and the woodwork wasn't as rounded as the Henry as it met the metal parts. Yet the wood furniture was nice & even as it contoured around the metal parts.
At that point, I put a deposit on the gun, read up some more on the subject, and watched more videos. Some for, and some against. I ended up buying the Marlin. Brought it home, removed the lever and bolt, and gave it a cleaning. I also applied some tung oil finish to the wood, which really brought out the grain and actually looks real good, even sitting next to the Henry.
At the range, this rifle was shooting very accurately, even with it's original Buckhorn sights. I've since added Skinner Alaskan sights to it. Since I reload, I've put more than several hundred rounds through it, in the last two months, without a single failure to load or eject. The accuracy remains as good as ever.
After the Marlin, I bought a Henry. It's a nice looking rifle, shoots accurate, has good looking wood to metal fit............but I still prefer the side load method versus the Henry magazine tube loading. Yet, it's not that big of deal.
Since my original 2016 Marlin-Remington-Freedom Group 45-70 has done so well, I bought a new Marlin 336 30-30 stainless steel. It's wood to metal finish is also very good. Same with the barrel, receiver and other parts. I did disassemble this one, and polished all of the action parts, as well as rounding the sharper edges on the lever. I'd say, the action is now as smooth as the Henry's.
I've now put many factory and reloads through it, and it functions perfectly too. It is a fact, that earlier made "Remlins" had problems with fit & finish, as well as some machined parts. It's true, what has been said. At the same time, there are now some nice looking & functioning rifles coming off the lines. I wouldn't care to trade my new ones, for a JM model. I might perhaps buy a JM sometime, but I have no dog in the JM versus Marlin-Remington battle, that some people have.
It's just important, to inspect the rifle first if possible. Make sure it cycles correctly, that the sight is milled straight, instead of an angle, and that the rifling & crown looks decent as far as you can tell from a quick observation.
