It all depends on how much you wish to spend, and how long a range you are interested in shooting at.
For about three times the price you can get a .223 savage bolt action that is three times as accurate out of the box.
Are you already a huntress, or just considering it?
We could start a separate thread on this and I estimate you would have a hundred posts in two hours. It is just an observable thing about freerepublic and gun questions.
Kind of off topic: I'll be as brief as possible.
I had a 30-06 Ruger w/ scope that I had bought circa 1978.
After a house fire the contractor stored all of our belongings.
They returned a rifle to me, in MY case, that is a .243 w/ scope and I think it is a Savage. I had stopped hunting prior to the house fire but after 9/11 I started looking at refreshing my shooting skills.
The statute of limitations has expired so that I can't go back to the contractor and complain about his returning the wrong weapon to me.
In the meantime I have become out of touch w/ firearms.
What is a .243 good for other than varmints?
I'm a beginner at hunting...B/F knows all about the Savages
I wasn't looking to spend that much right now....I'm still a full time student (broke all the time)