I just picked up a new Marlin 981TS for my son's 12th birthday. This will be his first real gun outside of a bb gun. I wanted a bolt action so he would learn to shoot and not just spray bullets. I liked the tube feed as I didn't want to worry about him losing or dropping and damaging a clip. The Marlin seemed to fit the bill perfectly. He has done quite a bit of shooting, but I told him he could not have a gun until I was satisfied that he was mature enough and could handle it safely. Well, he is a straight "A" student, follows each and every safety tip I have taught him and is an all around good boy. Now, all I have to do is keep the secret until his birthday in June. That is going to be tough!
The other thing I noticed is that Marlin's are really hard to get right now. I went through my normal gun shop and none of his distributors had one. I went through another gun shop that I have done business with and got the same story. Finally, and first ever, I had to buy it through Gander. Not a big fan of them, but they had one in stock and I did not want to miss out on it not knowing how long the Marlin problems will continue after the shutdown of their factory.
Anyhow, I am really excited to give it to him and thought I would share.