Gentlemen,
I feel you are being somewhat snobbish. I own two ATR's and both are great rifles. I also own a savage 111. Both ATR's shoot 3/4 inch groups from the bench with hand loads. One is the night train. I can shoot a rabbit at 200 yds every time. For those that think I am perhaps stretching the truth, come on over and try them.
Yes, I had an extractor problem with the '06 but that was readily, and I mean back in my hands in a month, repaired under warranty. Never a problem since and I shoot them more than the average hunter would.
Either shoots better than the used M77 I bought this summer. Figure that.
OP, nothing wrong with this rifle. Yes, it does have some machine marks on it. Yes, it does benefit from spending hours working the action to smooth it out. Yes, it does shoot better after 100 rounds go down range. But there is no better value, in my opinion. It was told by the guy that sold me mine. "I wouldn't shoot it, but I shoot $10,000 rifles in competition. As an entry level starter, nothing could be better, and when you are ready to move up, you can."
A friend of mine had a Vanguard when they came out(.22-250) and it was certainly no better than my Mossberg. Machine marks, rough action that needed smoothing, he took it back after we shot 100rds through it and got a Vanguard 2 which had much better action and shot better out of the box.
