Consider buying a used rifle.
On an almost daily basis I see members here mention rifles they couldn't get to shoot so they "sent them down the road"
I saw WAY more used rifles on shelves today than I expected. I guess it's the big inventory right before hunting season... but most of them either looked essentially new (and were priced at close to original retail) or, to Paul's point, looked like someone dumped them for a reason. Unless you really know what you're looking for/at or you're specifically interested in a "project," I'd be leery of buying a used rifle.
I've had exactly two used rifles I sent back down the road. The first was a Remington M700 BDL .308 Win that shot bughole groups. It got sold to fund my first AR, which came with two uppers - .223/5.56 and .300 BLK. The other was a Ruger American .30-06 Dad gave me before he passed away. I tried 7 or 8 different types of factory ammo in it and couldn't find one that shot as well as I'd like. Did not bother with handloads as I already had multiple .30-06 rifles. This one helped fund another rifle as well. Nothing really wrong with it other than I couldn't get sub-MOA groups with factory ammo and I didn't have the time or desire to fool with it. Or space in the safes.
Right now I have 5 bolt rifles in my safe that were acquired used - ..223 Rem, 243 Win, .257 Roberts, .30-06 and a .338WM that was assembled from used factory parts (action, stock and barrel) from different sources. All shoot great. Bought a used lefty Remington M700 BDL in .270 Win for Daughter #1 and it shoots very well too - 4-shots @ 0.7" and 3-shots @ 0.3" at 100 yards last time I checked it, per my load notes.
While I understand the concern, I haven't had a bad used rifle yet.
