Well I will most likely regret jumping in but here goes. I recently retired my 710 when I bought my 06 Browning A-Bolt Stalker. Now I love the Browning but I didn't buy it because the 710 wasn't performing. In fact it killed everything that I shot with it for a couple of years. I got the A-Bolt becasue it's a great gun and I like guns. It does do better at shots in the 200-250 yard range which gives me a little more confidence. Now the 710 is ugly but with a litttle practice it groups well at 100 yds and can flat put the game on the ground. Is the Savage or 700 a better gun for about the same money? Maybe but for a decent entry level deer rifle the 710 does the job with no frills. I actually took some money of some folks with much more expensive guns that laughed at the Remington. So does a nicer rifle make me a better hunter? No just a hunter with better equipment. Like my dad used to say coach gets you to the same place as first class, know what I mean? Gary