I have a MkIIBTV and a XT-22TR. The triggers on these guns are nearly identical. The Savage is slightly better IMO but there's very little to complain about on the Marlin.
BTW I had a synthetic MkII stock for a while and it had far more flex than the Marlin stock does. Yes my Marlin has a synthetic stock and I have noticed very little flex on it. The Savages flex a lot. I suppose any synthetic stock will flex some but the Marlin feels pretty solid to me. It hasn't affected my accuracy like the F stock (the synthetic stock) did on my Savage.
Actually the Savage sporter version of the MkII (as opposed to the varmint version) is cheaper than the Marlins. They are nice shooting guns I hear but I have not shot a sporter version myself. I do know the varmint version is much more accurate than my Marlin is. I don't know if that's just a case of one rifle not shooting it's best or not but I suspect it's a matter of the Savages just being more accurate. The Marlins are actually pretty accurate but the Savages are just super accurate if you get the varmint models. I've shot many sub 1/8th inch groups with my Savage. And that's 5 shots at 50 yards. I've shot a couple of groups where I put 4 shots in a hole that measured only slightly bigger than one bullet hole. The 5th shot was a whopping .2" off in one of those groups and about .25" on the other. I was one shot away from what would have to be seen as a perfect group with both of those groups. Keep in mind that I'm far from being the best shot in the world. I can only imagine what this gun could do in the hands of a truly great shooter.
Marlins shoot very well. They just don't shoot that well. I've shot some amazing groups with Marlins too but not like the Savages I've shot. I still love Marlins and I've continued to buy them up on a regular basis. I also have a whole slew of Savages. Both are really excellent rifles and you won't go wrong with either.
I do like being able to shoot shorts in my Marlin. I can load 25 rounds of shorts in the tube and using the CCI HP or HV shorts it's close to having the power of 25 LR rounds. That's a lot for a tube mag. It takes a long time to shoot that many rounds and there is no huge box mag hanging off the bottom of the rifle to make it happen. I really like my XT. It shoots very well and has a very high capacity for shorts and with the new shorts CCI has out that are so powerful it's really a very slick setup. It's a solidly built rifle too IMO. It's a Mayfield Kentucky product which generally means it will be a good product. I don't regret buying that XT for one second. But it won't shoot as well as my Savage. The best groups I can get with it are about half an inch. That's some terrible shooting eh? I've actually shot better groups with a 60SS I own. But that XT is a very solid rifle that should be going strong when my great-grandchildren are knocking down tree rats with it. IMO the Marlin is built considerably more durable than the Savage.
Just for the record here's one of my Savage groups that I mentioned before. I've actually shot better groups because the one shot didn't take off on me. Still this group shows what the rifle can do. I'm sure I was the cause of the flyer. It doesn't take much to be off .2".
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