I don't find the Sharps Borchart/Colt ugly at all. When one considers the fast lock time and the precision mechanism then it's a beautiful rifle to me. For a price of $1000 it's a gift.

As to the choices presented I find that many of them are rather heavy guns. If one expects to carry it a lot then a Ruger 1A is a handier choice and rather easy to get as well.

The newer #1's suffer from so so trigger however. They are worth dealing with in my opinion. I have hunted with a 1969 Ruger 1A on opening day for a long time. It stays sighted in and is a reliable rifle. Mine is rebarreled to 30-06 now.