There's one rifle I can think of that is teetering on a "good deal" status. It's at one of my honey holes and isn't even an original rifle. It's intriguing though. Comes with a bunch of reloading brass, dies, data, etc. etc. It's down to $650.00 at the moment, but I'm thinking I can swoop in and snag it for $600.00. The reason I say it's teetering on good deal status. I've checked it out and the rechamber looks very clean. Rifle still has a lot of rifling, crown is good, retains original sights and front hood, it also has a Leupold scope of some sort on top, if I remember right. It's been a month or so, since I had it in hand. It's rechambered to 25-284, which is unusual. The gunsmith milled the original cartridge markings off, and marked it for the new cartridge. It is a shame that someone did this to a nice 257 Roberts, but it is what it is. Would make a wonderful shooter from what I can tell.
It's funny because in the past, I've started threads about rifles that I thought were good deals. Some of you guys said, that's a great deal, you better snag it!!! Then I either went back to buy it, or found that it was already sold!!! Here's one I bought at the beginning of this year, close to my birthday:
Original Winchester model 70 Heavy Varmint 308w. Made in '96. Paid $600 for it:
This rifle is a shooting machine. It looked to be new/unfired when I bought it. Shoots as I'd expect, after a little glass bedding. Trigger was already perfect, so that was good. Put the rail and scope on and it shoots like this:
Even though those were very poor conditions.
Cold and windy, it shot well:
It shot so well, that I even challenged my fast twist Tikka 22-250 to a duel. That 308 held its own!!
The action on this rifle is smooth, and it is very comfortable to get behind. I could shoot it all day long.
After the Winchester beat up on the little Tikka (skinny barrel, but nonetheless) that day, I had to bring out the big dog. My CTR in the Mcmillan A3. It's in the background (far bench).
I think the Winchester was getting a little full of itself, so it had to be brought back down a little. Showing no bias towards either rifle, I shot them and the winner was:
.........................the Tikka, but only by a small margin. You guys out there searching for great deals, good luck. They are out there, but sometimes you have to be quick. Know what you are looking at, which is hard to do sometimes. We are not all "professionals" here, even I ask questions from these guys when looking at some guns. The Winchester collector forums is a great place to hang out, with many guys in the know. Much appreciated!!!!