I personally own one and I can tell you it's because of the following:
1. Production began in 2008. Production was "sporadic" as Marlin produced many different products and this was a "late" addition.
2. Production in late 2009 was made using materials "on hand" and a significant number of "defective" recievers were built into guns that entered the supply chain between the time the decision was made to sell to Freedom group and the "keys" were handed over. That, and they were assembled by long time employees that were losing their jobs. These are the ones with the so call "droop" because the recievers were drilled/machined off center. This affected primarily the .308 and .338 Marlin Express calibers. However, I've heard of .30/30's and .45/70's that were so afflicted, too.
3. Numbers vary, but less than 10,000 of the .338's have been built.
4. Most of us that have one are very, very, attached to them. Especially if you have experienced the "on game" performance. I'm 3 of 3 for "bang-flops". All deer were shot at the "end" of "percieved" effectiveness of typical lever-action cartridges.... 140-160yds. At this range, the loads performed equal or superior to the .30/06 cart. w/180gr bullets....
5. The "average" .338MarlinExp. can be expected to shoot 1-1.5" groups for 5-shots... Mine is on the "large" end of this, but, I also load my handloads to duplicate factory ammo, which is 2,540fps from a 22" bbl at 25'. Not exactly "tossing nerf balls".
You'll get much more definitive information about the Marlin's at
www.marlinowners.com
According to Hornady, the .338ME is far from dead. We are led to believe that Marlin is going to be restarting production of the .338 as well as .444 and .45/70 in 2013.
There are occasional "leads" on guns for sale over at MarlinOwners, so if you'll "lurk" over there for a while, you may get a "heads up" on one for sale in your neighborhood. Thats how I found mine. I got lucky and got one that had a very "tight" fit, and needed a bit more "fitting" before it was typical of historical Marlin performance, but my efforts were worth it...
