thanx guys.....for the time being ill look for a cheap quality 223......ill know the rifle when i see it.....ill stop in the gun shop once a week or so to look....im not putting big money into this gun....a few hundred bucks with the scope and all....im going to build a custom mauser in 22-250 after college or whatever i do....i dont know ill see what i can afford.....i really want to get the car paid off so i know im not going to spend alot initally....maybe find something that needs some tlc that i can handle.....wood work or something...but ill make sure it works fine and has a good bore.....should be hard to find at the gunshop i goto...my friends dad owns it and he buys alot of used because theres not alot of money around here and noone really buys really expensive stuff....he will order new...and keep a few new on the shelfs...but alot of his stuff is military or used....and me and my dad learned how to judge the used guns....so ill see what i can find.....any advice on scope power???? i could always put my 3x9x40 leupold on it and put peeps on the mauser.....id actually love a reason to do that so that might be an option.....i dont know if dad would let me do such a thing....i dont plan on using the mauser much next year anyways....i think ill carry the flinter alot more....but any advice on scope power??? ive never hunted these critters......it sounds fun and would give me something to do in the winter.......thanx alot