500grains,

I agree with you. My comments about Searcy were meant to provide contrast between the true "best quality" rifles as opposed to a working rifle. The same can be said about my Merkel, my Winkler, a Heym, a Chapuis, etc.

I don't mean to offend. My comment was tongue-in-cheek. Please receive it that way.

By the way, I drive an old rusted out 1983 Ford F-150 4wd truck most of the time. I also have a garden-variety Ford Explorer. Never owned a Mercedes. I spend my $$ on doubles rather than rolling stock.

And yes, this is a fantasy exercise. I thought I made that clear in my initial post. I have spent some big bucks on doubles in the past, but not yet in the $50k realm. However, if I had a quick buyer for 2 or 3 of my present beauties, I would aggregate the money and negotiate on the DMB. That's just me. Like NitroX said, I probably wouldn't take it into a muddy swamp. But I would certainly enjoy fondling it by the fire on a cold winter day or shooting it on a nice spring day like today was.

Take no offense, none intended,

Curl