I just got done slicking mine up. I've got the .357 version.....polished up the moving parts, removed the cross-bolt safety, put in new lever catch and hammer springs, took off that hideous (IMHO) black picatiny rail and filled the holes with stainless plug screws and the barrel dovetail with a stainless blank, smoothed all the edges on the lever and hammer spur (they were sharp) and laced up some leather on the lever & trigger guard sections.....also put in a Wild West "Happy Trigger" and softened up the Loading Gate/Spring by grinding off about 1/3 of the verticle section of the spring part to make it more reasonable/easier to load rounds........man, stock they are STIFF. Lets just say its a PLEASURE to shoot and look
at......also, really like the ghost ring sights. I'll see if I have a pic to post....thought about a 45-70 but really wanted something I would shoot a heck of a lot more for what these cost.......so .357 Magnum won out
Mine actually has a "JM" barrel on it, even though it's fresh from the factory......probably a leftover barrel or they are stamping "JM" again
. I will say, Marlin's quality has come back up....I was expecting to have to "fix" a lot of things given some experiences over the last 10-15 or so years with Marlin's.....my 1895CSBL was really put together well from the factory, though its
much better now!