I got the Missus many years ago a Stirling Model 20 for around the house, it was a semi-auto, it worked a bloody treat & did everything that it needed to do with aplomb! Yes it was what you would call a 'truck gun' or the old dependable rifle that was kept behind the door in case it was needed; it was a great little gun & more than accurate enough with open sights (my eyes were pretty good then).
Then of course came Mr Howard & took that one away (amongst others), I couldn't get a Brno (preferably a No2) at the time so I urgently got a Norinco Chinese knock off of the No1.
It does the job okay, gets wallabies easily & all the kids & a lot of their friends have used it to learn how to shoot; true it definitely is no Brno, far from it! Its a tool to be used, but not to be abused. It gets the same treatment as all my other firearms; would I wince if I scratched the stock compared to my good P14 - not on your Nellie!
So no it doesn't really have to be a fancy rig, in fact I learnt to shoot with a Winchester Model 1900 old single shot a a young lad- now that WAS a field rifle!