BigBL87;
OK, here's a different take for you to consider. Sell the Savage .22 & get the Ruger 10/22. There are a couple of reasons to go that way. Having the Ruger allows you to do almost literally whatever you want with it. It's one of the three most accessorized firearms on the planet. The other two being the AR platform and the 1911. Selling the Savage should make getting into the Ruger a very small investment. That then quite possibly creates the ability to obtain a center-fire rifle in the not-too-distant future that's an upgrade from the category you'd been thinking in.
However, I'll also warn you that it's very easy to go Rugernutz and produce multiple Frankenrugers before sanity reasserts itself. They are addictive. Red-dot plinker, lights-out accurate bench gun, WWII German MG42 look-alike? It's all possible using the base 10/22. Considering the availability of Ruger 25 round magazines, it's even a credible home-defense gun. Get a Brownell's catalog & go nuts!
Then start haunting the local, and maybe not so local, gun shops looking at the used racks. Considering your state's hunting restrictions, it's entirely possible that a good used centerfire might be more reasonably priced than you might think. Just because a rifle is on the used rack doesn't mean it's automatically a cast-off dog. Many a fine firearm has been found second-hand. Perhaps you could start looking at Remington 700's, a nice Winchester 670, a Howa, or another Ruger. Lot's of possibilities.
900F
OK, here's a different take for you to consider. Sell the Savage .22 & get the Ruger 10/22. There are a couple of reasons to go that way. Having the Ruger allows you to do almost literally whatever you want with it. It's one of the three most accessorized firearms on the planet. The other two being the AR platform and the 1911. Selling the Savage should make getting into the Ruger a very small investment. That then quite possibly creates the ability to obtain a center-fire rifle in the not-too-distant future that's an upgrade from the category you'd been thinking in.
However, I'll also warn you that it's very easy to go Rugernutz and produce multiple Frankenrugers before sanity reasserts itself. They are addictive. Red-dot plinker, lights-out accurate bench gun, WWII German MG42 look-alike? It's all possible using the base 10/22. Considering the availability of Ruger 25 round magazines, it's even a credible home-defense gun. Get a Brownell's catalog & go nuts!
Then start haunting the local, and maybe not so local, gun shops looking at the used racks. Considering your state's hunting restrictions, it's entirely possible that a good used centerfire might be more reasonably priced than you might think. Just because a rifle is on the used rack doesn't mean it's automatically a cast-off dog. Many a fine firearm has been found second-hand. Perhaps you could start looking at Remington 700's, a nice Winchester 670, a Howa, or another Ruger. Lot's of possibilities.
900F