There are a lot of opinions on this subject and it can be difficult to sift through all the diatribe. Especially from Marlin owners. Lots of folks saying that even though the Ruger costs twice as much as a model 60, you have to spend several hundred dollars to get it to shoot "just as good". I'm here to tell ya that it's a pile of BS. Once you spend "several hundred" on good aftermarket parts, you have a rifle that a Marlin can only dream of being. Put a cheap (~$100) barrel on a Ruger and it'll shoot like a Marlin. Which is a common mistake among many shooters. Put a good barrel from Clark, Shilen, KID or Lilja on it and it will shoot better and more consistently than many boltguns. Put a $40 Volquartsen hammer in it and it will have a crisp 2lb trigger. Or you can up the ante with a $300 KID two stage and have one of the finest triggers available anywhere, for any rifle. Or anywhere in between. Stuff Marlin owners can only envy.
For triggers, you can do no better than KID but the aforementioned VQ hammer is a great value. I also like to pack mine full of goodies from Power Custom, their extended bolt and mag releases are my favorites.
For barrels, skip the cheap stuff and get a good one. You don't need a heavy barrel to shoot tiny groups and for this, I like Clark's mid-weight. Shilen also offers a very good varmint profile.
