Elk, check out the 17HMR. I had a chance to play with one in November and I was impressed on what that little gun will do. It shot sub MOA at 200. Marlin makes a rifle / scope combo that's pretty reasonable. Stainlessheavy barrel and all. It comes witha cheap BSA scope but the optics aren't bad at all. Plus the scope is calibrated to the ballistics of the 17HMR so the elivation turret has yardages printed on it. I checked it out at 100 and then shot it at 200 and the POA was pretty darn close. Plus it won't rattle anybody's windows. Much quieter than the 22 hornet and much cheaper to shoot. Plus, out of the box (unless you handload the hornet) it's more accurate.