In Nov 2002 for $445 + $45 tax I got a like new Ruger #1 223 made in 2000 with long skinny barrel. It would shoot a 1" group. I loved that rifle and thousands of rodents died.

In April 2007, through my own incompetence, I lost that rifle.

In May 2007, on an online auction I found a Ruger #1V 223 with short fat barrel for $500 + $42 shipping and FFL, made in 1999.
The bore was full of Copper.
It will shoot a 1/2" group.

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There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self. -Ernest Hemingway
The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.-- Edward John Phelps