MarkCO,
I don't disagree with what you are saying, only that the reasons I didn't recommend the RPR include the OPs original comments on 1) price, and 2) hunting.
I am all for making the sport more accessible. Right now the entry level options from Savage and Ruger are great, but they are still pretty expensive. The Savage F/TR runs right at 1,100 at Buds, the RPR is out of stock at buds but is going from 1,300 to 1,500 on gunbroker. Even the Tikka T3 CTRs in 260 Rem are right around 1,000 on gunbroker or buds. There is nothing wrong with any of these rifles as far as accuracy is concerned, but they aren't exactly "bargain basement" budget friendly deals either.
It's an interesting point that these rifles do lower the cost of entry into long range, but so far they haven't lowered it enough to significantly change the number of competitors, although the introduction of F class as a sanctioned discipline makes it at least a growing sport. High Power is in a different boat, the new optics rule is really a desperate plea to get more people into a shrinking sport. I shot with the same people around Fort Knox for about three years and saw the same faces at every match.
A friend of mine who got stationed at Dix told me that anyone who showed up with a Savage 12 F/TR could hang as long as they could read the wind. I don't doubt that at all, but he wasn't selling his rifles built by Whidden to get a Savage either. But then again he had a couple Bartlein blanks just waiting around because he knew the price would only go up.
Must be getting old, rambling again.
Jimro