I got one as my first rifle. Not a glamorous rifle by any means but wow that thing will shoot! Open sights at 100 yrds and I'm on a 8" plate - that's minute of deer right there and again, with open sights.
The ones I've seen since then have been slowly creeping up in price. $219 is a good price I believ, especially if it's in good shape. The mags aren't really plentiful and will run $20 or so but not too bad.
I'm curently contemplating another in .2 Hornet that is at a local shop. They were also available in .222 rem.