Sorry, didn' t know that a good gun had to look good and be expensive, I always thought a good gun was one that shot accuratly consistently, which is what this gun does, thats a point you can' t argue.
As for the vanguard thats the sticker price around here, 499. The one I was going to buy was on sale at gander mountain and had a 3x9 leopold mounted on it for 600 bucks with a sling. I' ve heard of guys getting em for around 400 bucks but I havn' t seen it first hand around here. 350 sounds like the price they' d offer you if you buy 10 guns a year from em or own the shop, not what the average joe is going to be able to pick one up for. And why isn' t it their lower end gun? to my understanding its the bottom dollar you can pay to get somthing with " weatherby" stamped on the barrel, as little as it means. Please correct me if I' m wrong.
For 400+ I' m sure you can buy a " good" gun, and for another 200 put a leopold on and for 600+ rings and tax you' d have a " better" gun. But for 330 you could buy a 710 w/ a bushnell mounted on it and be shooting just as good as your " better" gun so wheres the advantage? I can go buy a " good" portable stand, steps, and a grunt call or whatever and probobly still spend less for all that and my gun than you did for a " better" gun. Does it matter? Not really, I won' t change your mind and you won' t change mine, one thing I' m glad of is that I didn' t start reading this forum before I bought my gun because stuff like this would have kept me from even looking at the 710, but as far as I' m concerned it seems like a good gun for the money and a good option for someone new to hunting and on a budget or whatever the case may be.