Of course, as I have been saving, I also have still been looking at other rifles. Seeing some of them has made me reconsider which one I want to buy being that there are so many fine choices out there. Just a few days ago, I received a sales brochure from Dick's Sporting Goods. While they do not have those Marlins on sale, they do advertise a few other rifles in which I have been interested. They are offering a scoped Savage 111 and a scoped Savage Edge for $399.99 each and the brochure contains a $50 off coupon for a purchase of $250 or more on hunting gear. I imagine the rifles qualify. Now depending on which model of Savage 111 is on sale it may or may not have the Accu-trigger. if I were to buy a Savage I would insist on the adjustable Accu-trigger. I do not know if the Savage Edge is/was offered with said trigger. In fact, the Edge has either been discontinued or renamed the Axis Series. Checking the Dick's website, I noticed that their weekly circular is offering both of these for $349.99. If that coupon in my sales brochure is good on them, that means I could pick one up for $299.99 plus tax. Sounds like a good deal.
What might be a better deal is that Dick's also is offering a Remington 700 Varmint. That is exactly what they are calling it. It almost appears as if it does not have a hinged floorplate which makes me think it is not the SPS but Remington does not show a varmint model on their website without the floorplate. So I am not sure if it is the SPS model or some lower end one made for Dick's by Remington. If it is an SPS model it is a very good deal at only $499.99 and a better deal with that $50 off coupon. This one is not in the weekly circular. I was not able to get to Dick's today to actually look at one but hope to before the sale ends. if it is an SPS model and if they take that $50 off coupon, well then I am going to jump on it even if I don't have nearly enough change saved up. Why? Because Remington is offering a $100 rebate on them.
Another reason for wanting one of the Remington 700 models is because it can shoot .75" groups at 100 yards right out of the box on scoped models (which this sale model is one). The model 700 is one of the most inherently accurate rifles out there, and as I understand they are the most utilized rifle by police snipers in the USA. Besides that they are not all that expensive even at the high end. Some go as high as about $1,200 or so but since they can also be had in models as inexpensive as about $449 they are a great deal for such an accurate rifle. Looking at one of these at the right price would totally make me forget about the marlin XL7 or XS7, well at least for awhile.
So you can be pretty sure that sometime this week, I am going to take a drive to one of my local Dick's Sporting Good stores to check out one of the Remingtons. I am not keeping my hopes very high that this varmint model will be an SPS because Dick's also has a Remington SPS Bone Collector advertised for $699.99 in the same brochure. Apparently only checking in person will tell since when I called Dick's earlier today, the guy in the hunting department had no clue if it was a varmint model other than an SPS. Of course, since the ad says the regular price was $649.99 and that is just under but very close to the MSRP, it could be the SPS Varmint. If they have it in .308 or if they can order it for me, then you can consider it sold - to me!
Some specs on the Remington SPS Varmint model are as follow:
SPS Varmint stock with vented beavertail fore-end
Sling swivel studs included
26" heavy-contour barrel (0.820" muzzle O.D.)
Legendary Model 700™ action
Drilled and tapped for scope mounts
Hinged Floorplate
And this one comes with a mounted and boresighted 3x9 scope. It would probably be too good to be true that this could actually be a SPS model and not a lower end model dolled up with some but not all of the SPS varmint features model and made specifically for Dick's by Remington. As I said though, I'll have to go to Dick's to check it out in person. I would hate to miss out on this deal if it actually is the SPS model.
If you would like to read a review of the Remington SPS Varmint click on this link:
http://www.snipercentral.com/remspsv.htm
All the best,
Glenn B
