It seems to me that the more I pay for a gun the less satisfied I am with it. My first center fire rifle was a $90 enfield. Tons of fun, it started my love for firearms.
I worked my way up to an M1A which was $2000 with mags, ammo and accessories. It didn't work, bad extractor, simple fix, I like it okay.
CMP Garand @$420 to my door, favorite gun.
$700 AR good gun, boring.
$900 Kimber Stainless target II shoots great, unreliable, no probs. lately.
$300 Win. M70 from Wally-World, very accurate, love to shoot it.
$250 AK, a blast
That has been my experience with guns. Mil Surps. are a lot of bang for the buck. Shooting trap with cheap shotguns in a field is more fun than an expensive shotgun shooting sporting clays on a course. That's just me, I know that money can't buy happiness. I would be just as happy without guns.
There is a diminishing return on guns. You don't twice the gun for twice the money.