I finally decided to join the party late and bought a new S&W Sport. It will be here sometime next week. I decided to start with something very basic as I figure I could always buy a little nicer rifle down the road if I take a shine to the platform. It will only be the third CF rifle I have ever owned. I had a bolt action 30.06 a while back and still have a Yugo SKS. I've read mostly good reviews about the gun. It seems that as long as a person understands what they are getting at the price point, they tend to be satisfied with them. The one area I have a question about is regarding the transition from the original 1:8 5R barrel to the 1:9 current offering. Does anyone have a Sport with the newer 1:9 barrel and does it really make that much of a difference? I was a little dissapointed to find out that S&W had made this change, however, I can understand the need to keep costs down for an entry level rifle. Considering that I'll have a little over ~600.00 into it, I don't think I can be too disillusioned by it. Now does anybody know of any good deals on ammo?