You have open up a can of worms here. Everyone has their favorite. Working in a gun shop aloowed me to play with alot of rifles. Check out the fit and feature, i.e safety, trigger, fit, finish and price to make your decision. It will be your rifle and you have to be happy. I don't think there is a bad manufacture. But there are bad features or manufacture practice that you may not like but some one else will. I love the Winchester bolt that you can remove the firing pine easy, but I don't care for the three position safety (even it is very safe. I know this didn't help and I sound like a polition but you have to be happy with you purchase. Go to a good gun shop. Someone who know ther estuff and will show you the features. Remember that little guy might not have the same pricwe of the mega mall but he has experience and knowledge that most big reatial don't have. Good luck shopping

Hcliff

Savage makes a model 10-FP that weighs 8.5 pounds. It would be really close to 10 lbs scoped. Savage makes a very accurate out of the box rifle. The Accu-trigger and free floated barrel make a big difference. Fit and finish is not the same as some of the more expensive rifles. That would be the cheapest route to an accurate varmint rifle. Any of the big manufacturers make good rifles. You will probably be happy with any of them. You'll have to look at several and decide how much you want to spend.

I'm not to happy with the finish on the new "bargain" Remington rifles (its similar to the Express shotguns finish). It tends to rust easily.

I believe that good looks in an affordable rifle are pretty little cover ups for other shortcomings.

Would you rather have a good looking Ford Pinto or a Mercedes that needs a paint job?