And that, right there, is a perfect example of why I hate going to the city.
I'd offer to help you out, Dogleg, but I doubt that I'll be back in town before the snow melts. If those plans change, I will let you know.
First off, my apologies for handing you the can of worms and the pointy stick with which to open it. I probably shouldn't have used the term "Lazermark", because I never noticed if the gun was marked that way. The Weatherby Nation forum is where that term came up, and that configuration is apparently well known down there as a Cabela's exclusive, so that's what I called it.
Considering how my purchase went, I'm not surprised by the dog-and-pony show you experienced. When I asked to handle the gun, I expected the salesman (who was very friendly and helpful, but not very gun-savvy) to ask for my PAL. Nope...here's the gun. He handed me the trigger-locked rifle, I went over it carefully, almost hoping to find an excuse not to buy it...after all, I had walked in to buy a couple of T-shirts and kill some time waiting for my wife. I asked to try the trigger, since my only complaint with my Gen1 Vanguard was the trigger and I had heard these were an improvement. I was told no, sorry, against company policy, can't take the trigger lock off. I was a bit irritated, but okay. I then asked if we could pass a patch down the barrel, which was very dirty and looked like it had some sort of irregularity in the rifling halfway down. This necessitated another salesman entering the fray, and the three of us carted the still-trigger-locked gun into the back, where it was ascertained that no cleaning equipment was to be had. By this time, I was hooked...I knew I wanted this gun, and would buy it if I couldn't find any flaws in it. I eventually told them I would buy a BoreSnake, to be used right then and there to clean the barrel. We did this, the bore proved to be dusty but perfect, and I said "sold". I also, in the privacy of the back room, squeezed the trigger once and was astonished at how crisp and light it was. The two sales guys were more than a bit diffident about letting me trip the trigger...and I in turn did not point out that I was the only one who had visibly checked the gun and proven it safe.
In fairness, these guys were not being a-holes, and did everything they could to be helpful. They were just working within the boundaries set for them by Cabela's...but, man, it gets tiresome to have to work so hard to get someone to take your money!
By the way, the rifle looks like it will be a shooter. I had probably a couple hundred rounds of .270 tucked away, some factory loads, and bunch of reloads, and everything seems to shoot less than 1.5MOA, with at least one factory load printing three groups of .8MOA. Three-shot groups...good enough for me.
