In general, even one beat to crap will still shoot well, it just won't look good. At $900 and up, it needs to look pretty decent also, especially in 30-06.
That's how I got mine for $300 back about 1983. It was a "gray rat" with not much bluing or stock finish left, but good otherwise. Had it blued and eventually did the stock in matte spar poly, which eliminated the annual re-sighting. Very accurate with loads it likes.
Awesome hunting rifles, but not my first choice for pushing the envelope with handloads due to the poor gas-handling.
