I have 5 Marlin levers. .45-70, .444, .35 Remington, .30-30, and .25-20. All of them will shoot a 3 - shot 1" group at the bench with the right loads. I am getting old and I can't see sights well enough so I have a good scope on each one. I have found that if the barrel is properly broken in, and there is nothing special to this, just shooting and cleaning, and you find a load that the gun really likes, you can get this kind of accuracy form almost any Marlin with common sense, provided there is no defect in the gun. My .30-30 does this with several loads both handloaded and factory, so you are not limited to handloads. Experiment with different bullet weights and shapes. (No pointy bullets!) Them shoot the %^#* out of it. One of them will shine. My .30-30 shoots the 170 grain bullets with great accuracy. All the factory 170's I've tried work well. The 150's are not as good and the Leverevolution stuff does not work in mine. My point is just practice. You don't have to spend several hundred dollars to get these Marlins to shoot. Practice Man! Practice! Thanks, Blowtorch