Thanks to many of the guys here, i have been having a great time with my ruger 10/22 and reloading for my pistols, but the time has come to upgrade to a centerfire rifle. I will be using it for target shooting at the local range which has 50,100,200,300 yards. No hunting. I was planning on getting a Remington 700 in a .223 but lately have been thinking about an ar-15 clone like the bushmaster. I have heard good things about the bushmaster and bad things including its hard to clean, has problems with carbon build ups, rings wear out, etc. But i heard its extremely accurate up to 1000 yards even though its semi auto. So my question is what do you guys think would be best for my situation? If i go with the bushmaster, i was looking at the target .223 with the a3 upper. its got a 20 inch barrel. I was also looking at the varmint special with a 24 inch barrel but its like $300 more and i still need a scope and rings. Any advice you guys can give me so i can be happy with my purchase as i was with my 10/22?