you cant judge the entire carton of eggs because one egg was broke. A/H has a good history of putting out great quality rifles. I hunt with cheap rifles and none have failed me. It doesnt matter how much the rifle was, anything and everything will break at any time. I had a tumbler break on me when i was at the shooting range. Loosing your ramrod or breaking it while pushing a new load down the barrel will ruin an elk hunt. Then again, so will sneezing.

As for the original poster, take the rifle out shooting and enjoy the rifle. THAT is the ONLY way you will know if the rifle has a flaw of some sort.

I'll be mule deer hunting close to Meeker Colorado this year with my $175 deer creek northwest rifle.