Unpopular and underrated older bolt rifles and cartridges?

I have a vague desire to get a vintage bolt action hunting rifle for some various projects, and though it'd be cheap and easy to get a Stevens 200 in .223 or .308, I want something with more character, both in terms of design and of being chambered for an interesting cartridge I can handload. But optimally something not too expensive, not one of the high-demand classics.

For chambering, I'm looking for something between 6mm and .30 to keep reloading components affordable, and I'm inclined to lower recoil/power options rather than mag cartridges since this is mostly for target shooting and plinking, not really a hunting deal.

As examples, I considered the Savage 340 in .222 or Winchester 43 in .218 Bee, but 6mm is the minimum caliber for NRA Rifle Silhouette shooting, so gotta bump the diameter up a little bit.


Open to suggestions, what's a clunky/sleeper hunting rifle that's not high in demand and price, in some interesting chambering that's not carried at every Walmart?

Some interesting suggestions here! A few of them are for rifles that appear to have really gained in value over the last decade and aren't the "bargains" they once were, but I'm still almost surprised by how the Remington 788 and the Savage 340 have still stayed relatively affordable. The Remington especially, appears to have a bit of a spotty reputation on some levels but also a certain following for having a tight lockup and being overbuilt.

I'd thought about the milsurp route, but a lot of them are for pretty powerful cartridges, like 30-06 equivalent or stronger, and a lot of them are hard to scope without doing major work. But the 6.5 Carcano is a neat option if I could find one that somebody has already scoped, or has permanently sporterized in a way that couldn't be fixed just by dropping it back into a proper stock so that I wouldn't feel bad further ruining it.