All -
Howdy !
IMHO - there is a sub-set of J.M. Marlin lever rifles, which I believe will end-up being more valued than the main line rifles.
Those would be the " XLR " series. And then within those, the calibre(s) produced in the least total quantity.
I did not follow the XLR series tremendously close during its production run, but it struck me that the .35Remington-chambered rifles were in the minority.
When I read that Marlin was selling out to Remington, I bought a .35 Rem XLR with full confidence we would not be seeing a gun of this kind, again. Mine is from within the last 2yr of production @ the CT factory.
My XLR is just stupid accurate, which might in-part be attributed to its deep 12-groove " Ballard " type rifling. The gun far and away outshoots the mid -60's M-336C .35 Rem I used to have.
IMHO - The M-336 XLR was the zenith of Marlin being on top of the lever gun heap. If my rifle is any indication, Marlin worker' pride was right there to very near the end; and those guns likely will remain unrivaled.
With regards,
357Mag