Lots of good advice above. Living in Commie New Jersey, almost as bad as Commie-Fornia, gun shops are getting to be rare. I end up going to NY or PA for deals on rifles. The bottom line is finding deals in gun shops or pawn shops in California probably won't be easy.
Regarding choice of rifles, I go with Tikka. I have owned many Remington 700s, some 7s, 600s, and a 660. Many of them shoot, and there are scads of aftermarket parts for them. That's fine if you're a amateur gunsmith, but if you just want to go shooting and hunting, no so good.
I have owned three Savages, and they shot from OK to not so hot. I have rebarreled two of them and sold the third. I replaced the triggers with aftermarket triggers. My friend's Weatherby Vanguard shoots great, but so do my Tikkas, and I have four in three different models in four calibers. All the Tikkas need is a trigger adjustment. I can't speak for the Ruger American or Mossberg.
