Maybe the LD website is not up to date, because I heard that they actually sold the rifle for the asking price of $8500.

As for the PH and field grade models, I personally find them both to be fine handling and well made rifles. I wonder if your extreme negative opinion of Mr. Searcy's work could arise from some personal considerations not related to the rifles themselves? Some day Ray and I will have to get together and shoot a PH model and a field grade model side by side to see if we can tell any difference between them in fit, handling or performance. When I close my eyes and bring a field grade or PH model to my shoulder, I really cannot tell the difference, but perhaps there is a difference when the round goes off. If you know of someone who has shot the two side by side, I would like to hear his comments.