have just got a ruger American I was looking at the Remington, the savage axis also the ruger which I ended up going with I had a marlin x7 which was a great rifle but I hated the internal mag as my fingers suck so I like detach mags so I was looking at the other $700 rifles there are a few options out there these days to be honest both the Remington and savage were bloody horrible I played with them all and the ruger stood out as the most well made.. though I reckon the marlin was nicer than the ruger but only a little
so to some it up.... for the price range id ether go ruger or if you don't mind an internal mag a marlin x7.... you may find a better 2nd hand option but I chose not to go down that route... both my current ruger and my x7 were/are very accurate both 223's if you were wondering
hope this helps Rambo
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