Good choice- Youth gun? No way, its just one great grab & go carbine that I like for deer hunting if I'm driving the back roads; and, as a defensive weapon when I'm camping. Sometimes when you're in another state or jurisdiction the presence of a handgun requires some explaining or worse.
I bought mine on clearance at Gander Mountain in Fargo, North Dakota a couple of years ago. I was just back in the store a couple of days ago and they have one 336 Marlin Spikehorn 30-30 on CLEARANCE now.
If there is a Gander Mountain store near you it may be possible that they could contact the Fargo store and have it transfered to them to sell to you. It might be worth a try.
Also, I bought a great 1894 C .357 mag. Marlin Lever from Walmart out of their catalog for a great price and had it on lay-by payments, which made things very easy. Try checking with them- the Spikehorn is in their catalog and their distributor may have them still available.
I have special ordered a lot of the firearms I have aquired- I"ll go to different stores and dealers and ask if they can obtain what I want through their distributor, and ask for a price quote. There is often a "big" difference in the prices quoted- even from different salesmen in the same store! It's sad Marlin is discontinuing them. I would love one in a 35 Rem.
--Smilin' Jack (1st post)
