The acquisition of Marlin and the drastic decrease in quality certainly didn't help. They lost a lot of money from the cowboy shooting market when the pistol caliber 1984's were so bad that cowboy shooters stopped buying them and switched to the Uberti 1873 & 1866. It's only almost 10 years later that they've gotten the quality close to the original Marlin's.

I have become addicted to English hammered shotguns to the detriment of my wallet.