will i don't know anything about the winchester, but I have two of the marlin 336's (one was my brothers, and the others was my grandfathers, now mine) and both are amazing, i used my brothers for hog hunting ( before i got my remington 700 bdl) because he bought it new at wally world with a scope on it and he got it for 300, so i question your deal? did yours come with a burris scope? anyway its a great gun, and marlin is a good company, so much for customer service though, my grandfathers 336 that i inherited came with a bend (barely but enough to mess you up) and i have called marlin like five times at different times and still haven't got ahold of them, its like they have lunch breaks from the time they open intill they close 5 days a week!