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Last night I took the time to go over the rifle and field strip it so I know what to do if a problem occurs. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the components and the much improved fit and finish of the Trapper. There is a noticeable difference in the fit and finish of this rifle vs. their octagon barrel Cowboy version. The fit and finish was not so good on the ones that I looked at. Differences in the blueing quality with the barrel being heavily blued and polished and the receiver not so much. The wood work was also pretty shoddy on those.
On the trapper, the stainless is brushed and matches across all components and the laminate stock is finished well with all edges and corners relieved to match their connection points. The top of the fore end does have pretty sharp outside edges and I could definitely feel that on my finger tips. It only took a few minutes to smooth the edges out and fine sand with some 2000g Wet/Dry sandpaper so it matched the rest of the stock again. It's not a game changer but it should have been done at the factory.
The fore end has full wrap checkering and although not hand cut, it does give a nice appearance and a sticky spot for your hand. The butt has the left and right reliefs just like our B's and a slight palm swell also.
There is a long picatinny rail on top that's labeled as a "lever rail". The rear peep sight is mounted on the rail so if you wanted to remove the rail, you would loose the peep. I think they should have mounted the peep to the action and then put the rail on it so you could take the rail off if you wanted without further modification. The rail can still be removed but you would need to add back in a short Picatinny rail and then remount the peep to that.
I have seen a few examples of this rifle with a scope mounted. The fact that it is side eject makes this a fairly easy job as long as you remember to buy a scope and rings that are impact rated for this caliber. I won't name brands that aren't because the list is long. Just remember to do your research and make those verification phone calls. Do not rely on a salesperson's opinion, they often get products confused because they typically have several. No, not all sales folks are dummy's but they have a lot to remember and I couldn't do it so why should I expect them to.
Putting the rifle back together from a field strip was pretty straight forward and I did it without any outside assitance. I'm not saying you can do it because this ain't my first levergun rodeo. I would not recommend doing it if all you do is clean and shoot guns. However, if you buy this rifle for the uses that it's name implies, learn how to do a field strip, it may just save your butt someday.
As a side note, this is what changed in the Freedom Group that is allowing Marlin to return to the quality levels they once were known for:
"In December 2012, citing the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as "a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level," Cerberus announced it would sell all of its investments in Freedom Group. The private equity firm said it would retain a financial adviser to sell its interests in Freedom Group, and would return the proceeds to investors." If you don't know Cerberus is the biblical name of the 3 headed dog that guards the gates of hates. An appropriate name considering what they did to Remington and Marlin.
It's taking a while to get it all together but they are out of Chapter 11 with a unanimous court approval of their restructuring plan. I think this new version of the Trapper is a good sign of what may be in the future for Remington and Marlin.
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