Hi Bartok5 
i hear you 100% and know exactly what you are saying, I have no problem paying more in town for a firearm i want.
numerous times ive ordered online and received firearms that had factory defects and slight damage, its a PITA dealing with  a return for issues like this and there is nothing more that i wanted then to purchase these firearms in town where i could pick and choose from local stock
where i live and even within a few hundred kilometers i have called and asked for certain firearms and if they can order them or if the have one in stock, with this specific Ruger 26965, it is impossible to find local, and several local stores i talk to just seem to have no interest in ordering one in for me as they state that their distributers cant get them and are not available. 
i know this is not true they just dont want to deal with it and work hard to get the sale. they just write it off and state they can only get the one with the rotary mag, when i clearly want the one with the AR mag.
either way with this specific rifle, it will need to be ordered in and i will never be able to handle it in person before i buy, no matter who i purchase from, so i might as well save 200$