A few years back I could never recomend a Savage rifle. They almost went out of business and finally got their act togther. Remington and the other big guys had better pay attention because Savage is going to blow them into the dust if they do not look out. Remington, Winchester and some of the others are looking at profit not quality and Savage is trying to over come a bad reputation from the " cheep years" Oh, it is hurting me to say this, but Savage is less expensive, has better quality control and is in general producing better rifles then the others.
Now for the package deals. You saved enough on the rifle, pitch the scope and put on good glass approprate to the rifle like Leupold or the Zeiss Conquest!!!