Agree with tc venture or the tikka comments. I guess I'm partial to them as I have clover leaf groups from both.
Anyone who ever owned a venture will tell you they are under rated tack driver. They weigh little more than the tikkas and don't feel as balanced to ME. Still awesome gun for the money. Found mine on sale for 299.
My buddy has a marlin in 243 and he swears by it.
I held ruger American when I was in the market for 223. Picked up tikka side by side an there was no comparison in feel and the quality. Another tikka went home with me.
Dre, they are great rifles. My buddy all but switched to them, but they have gone up so much in price that my buddy actually went back to buying the cheaper savage package rifle (XP Trophy hunter). One thing I have noticed about guys that buy these cheap rifles is they never seem to be happy with them and always seem to be searching for something better but they don't want to fork out the money for a real rifle. I have a couple friends like that. They consider older used Ruger m77 mkII's out of their price range, but they have suffered with Remington 710's, Ruger American, Mossberg 4x4, Savage Axis and the like. From what I've personally seen with my buddies' cheap rifle buying, these are the ones I'd pick:
1. Savage XP trophy hunter
2. TC Venture
3. Stevens 200
4. Marlin X series rifle (you can find NIB rifles on GB).
