rgmuckli,you have 2 choices here,there are alot of great rifles out these days for under 500.00 limite.The first thing I will say is not to skimp on your scope.I believe that a good scope is money well spent on any firearm.As for a rifle the savages are great guns for the money ,But the scopes that come on the package guns are real low end.You might also want to look at the Stevens 200 or the Mossberg ATR100.Both of these guns can be had for under 300.00 dollars and both shot well for budget rifles.That would give you another 200.00 dollars to spend on a scope and scope mounts.I have personal gotten to were I like fixed 4x scopes on my Rifles for most of my hunting needs.