Chugach;
Yup, went through the same thing myself last year. I've decided that I'm buying absolutely ZERO right hand bolt guns anymore. If they can't be bothered to meet my needs, I can't be bothered to give them money. Doing anything else only encourages them to ignore us. So, with that little rant off my chest - .
Last year I bought a Savage MKII left hand bolt .22LR. I paid about $135.00 for it, blue, wood stock. An extra magazine was under $10.00.
I've fiddled around with it, dismounted the action, cleaned all the excess 'hair' outta the inletting & free floated the barrel. Added a pillar to the mounting screw & generally did minor things to the appearance of the stock.
It's wearing a Tasco 2.5X10 A/O mil dot scope - don't buy one, the optics are good, the windage & elevation settings are not consistent or repeatable. But then it was only $65.00 to the door.
It's a nice little plinker that I don't have a lot of money into. About a 50 yard small game gun. That may change with the addition of a better scope though.
900F