Another good gun for the money is the Howa 1500. Its the same gun as the weatherby vanguard but a little better price. The 243 is a great choice for a varmint/deer combo gun. You should be able to find a nice rifle in 243 on the used market as well. The best piece of advice I can give you is to get the best optics you can. You can usually get some smoking good deals on Howa rifles on www.gunbroker.com

[link]http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=23048593[/link]