BFLEM55,
In order to stay in your budget, I would recommend staying with a bolt action rifle, savage put`s out a nice barrel target that fell`s in your budget and will deliver very respectable accuracy, if you can sqeeze a few more dollars I would opt for a remington 700.

To keep ammo cost down stay in the .223 rem caliber, this will give great groups out to 250 to 300 yards if longer range shots are required i would look at 22-250,220 swift or .243 win.

Now you would just be wasteing your money and your time trying to find a quality ar-15 for $500.00, they just do not exsist!!!
If you wanted to build one, kits still run $430.00 or better and you still need a quality receiver and that runs $125 to $175.00, and now you have to build it!

But the ar-15 won`t give you the accuracy that the bolt rifle will!

RON KONTOWSKY
ACTIONS BY R.A.K.

CUSTOM GUNSMITHING CUSTOM PISTOLSMITHING