jaybird -
"Is there an inexpensive fix for the heavy trigger?"
Yes... and No.
Basically you have 3 options - take it to a gunsmith for a trigger job, an after-market trigger, or give it a trigger job yourself.
Gunsmith:
A number of people on various boards have suggested a trigger job by a gunsmith can be had for around $35. Mine charges $85. (Which is why he's only done one for me, a 9mm Browning BDM.) You may be able to find something in-between.
After-market trigger:
Wild West Guns makes an excellent drop-in trigger for the Marlin 336/444/1895 rifles. About $85 at Midway last ime I looked. I put one i my Malin 375, which had a trigger much like yours, and the results were impressive - the pul weight dropped from 6-1/2 pounds or so to 3-1/2 pounds. Replacing the trigger was easy, taking half an hour - most of which was used in cleaning the rifle's innards while I had it apart. I have yet to see a negative report on these triggers. I think there may also be another after-market trigger availble but I'm not sure.
Do-it-yourself trigger job:
Not as hard as you might think, but not for klutzes or the mechanically challenged. Even then, I don't recommend this route for most people. That said, my wife gave me a Dremel tool for Christmas and since then I have given trigger jobs to a Ruger Super Single Six, Ruger M77, Thompson Express Muzzleloader and a Browning B92. All came out great. Most of the work on each was just polishing the mating surfaces on the hammer and trigger. Although I did do a tiny bit of grinding here and there, most of it was not on the sear parts.
If you go this route, talk to a gunsmith first, or get a book on gunsmithing that addresses trigger jobs - its easy to make a bad trigger worse, or worse, to make a trigger unsafe.
