I think the Marlin would be a great project gun for you as well. It has taken me time to become familiar with the firearm, but strangely enough, it is one of the few that I feel comfortable working on.
A set of proper screwdriver bits and punches is really a first purchase. The lever screw, the forend cap screws, and a few others all are non-standard in either width or groove. Getting a soft punch to remove the rear sight would also be good. Brownells sells all this stuff.
Then, learning how to remove the lever and bolt and ejector makes it easy to see how you could put in a WWG Bear Proof Ejector. Reading that thread on preventing excess wear from the lever on the follower and stoning the lever is easy.
Getting a custom set of sights on is a snap. There are many from which to choose. Skinner, WWG, XS Sights and Williams all make good ones. XS Sights offers a scout scope base that works well. No big deal to install any of these.
If you choose to put a scope on, you could try the Weaver one-piece base, Warne Maxima rings, and a low power scope like a 1.5-5X Leupold or a 2-7X32. If you use a Leupold base and rings, it will raise the scope high enough to clear the rear sight. Other bases may not. You can drift the rear sight out, and unscrew the front sight very easily, to allow use of the other mounts that permit a lower scope axis.
Galco makes an awesome braided leather sling that fits the Marlin motif well. A fellow on
www.marlinowners.com also makes nice custom slings with carvings and your name in letters, if you want.
www.superiorammo.com is also a custom ammo maker that could help you with custom loads, if you don't have time or dies or whatever. He is very nice, and can make things pretty much how you want them, within safety limits. If you make a big cast bullet load up, watch your overall length as the lever action has to move them up and into the chamber at such an angle that wide noses can hang up or fail to chamber.
With enough money, you could get the WWG big loop lever, trigger, and ejector, install them yourself and you'd have a fine start. Add the better peep sights, and either a stock Marlin XLR follower or a WWG metal follower, a leather sling, and you're ready for the woods.
