Well it's done.......thank you all for your input. I think many are accurate when they say "you can't go wrong". I think I am already thinking about the next purchase but thats months down the road.

The Steyr was so tempting as it was the .243 i was looking at and it was a cool little gun. However, i think not only did I want wood but also at the end of the day a major brand just seems to have advantages when something goes wrong (if it does) and who knows where you are. I also heard that forearm stock can flex at times so...

At the end of the day I went to the Big Box store Bass Pro Shops (damm i like supporting the little guy) to look at the Ruger M77 and what do you know the Browning X-Bolt was on sale, I already had shouldered it and liked it and it was wood so it was just a matter of caliber. I think I would have prefered a .308 but the sale price of $599 was on the .270 or 06 so the .270 it was.

I'm sure no matter which way I went things would have been good
but this is my socond Browning long gun so there might be a trend.

this is a great forum and look forward to more chat down the road

thanks,

Tar Heal