i have limited experience with the marlin, only shooting them in stock form, but i have a savage that shot so well off the bench with a bad! bad! bad! trigger, that i bought an eighty dollar, rifle basics, trigger for it. wow! what a diffrence! it,s adjustable down to just under two pounds! this gun shoots 1/4 inch groups at 50 yds. any time i do my part! and i dont need match ammo to do it either, it likes federal bulk from walmart! (it shoots all match ammo well too!)
my wife and i shoot in .22 br matches, she has an anschutz 54 match, and i have a winchester 52 heavy barrel. they are both competitive, but my savage is right behind them. its also about four pounds lighter!
the rifle is very shootable offhand too!
the gun cost me $90 at wallmart the trigger $80 so $170 total. for a little more money you can buy a cz, wich in my opinion is the best deal on the market! they are very pretty, well made guns, that are also very accurate! and they allready have an adjustable trigger!
i,m very happy with mine! but my savage doesnt miss!
good luck!