After taking the suggestion of the 2Ahawaii community I went ahead and picked up an Ruger American .22 from Sports Authority. With the Mil discount it came out to be $273.00. Seems like a pretty good price so things were already starting off in the right direction. Went home unpacked all the usual goodies (lock, manuals and one magazine). Being the RAR uses 10/22 mags and already having a bunch definitely gives it a plus in my book. Fit and finish are definitley first rate as to be expected from Ruger. The following week got permission from the wife to head out to the range to test out the RAR. The rifle functioned very smoothly and fed everything loaded. Honestly it was a little unnerving at first when I took the first couple of shots. Prior to shooting the RAR I shot my 10/22 so I was used to what little recoil that had. So when I shot the RAR and felt absolutely no recoil I thought something was wrong. For a brief second I even thought the weapon was misfiring or I had bad ammo. All the fears went away as soon as I picked up my spotting scope. All shot were placed within a 2" pattern. I know your probably thinking so what that's no big deal. Well for an old guy like me and not having shot irons in a while I was actually very pleased with my self. I'm sure with practice and some good ammo the RAR and I could do much better.
      In conclusion, it's my opinion that the RAR is a great rifle and I would highly recommend it for novice and seasoned shooters. At $273.00 you get a lot of bang for your buck.

Sounds like a good rifle!

Nice, especially considering your original price range was $400-600.

I bet we could improve the grouping with very little effort.

I purchased my RAR from SEC when it first came out.
Rifle very accurate & fun to shoot.
I have modified mine with a bigger bolt handle knob & magazine release lever.
Thanks to SpeedTex, rifle easier to operate 

I was thinking of the bigger bolt handle too but was not too sure who could do it around here. I'll definitely have to stop by and visit x-ring for some ideas.

I saw you mentioned iron sights.  Glad to know it came with some sort of optics.

I am a bit old school I guess in that I prefer bolt action rifles. I am a big fan of the .22 cartridge. I have been drooling over the RAR since it came out. Accuracy claims seem to be true. Problem for me is that I already own a couple of bolt action .22's. But I don't have any guns that fire the .22 Mag cartridge. So I think I may go ahead and get the .22 Mag version.

I was thinking of the bigger bolt handle too but was not too sure who could do it around here. I'll definitely have to stop by and visit x-ring for some ideas.

Bolt handles are no problem.  I have many styles at x-ring. Small and Large

I saw you mentioned iron sights.  Glad to know it came with some sort of optics.

Seems to use the old school 10/22 irons. It was tougher than I remember at 50 yards. The RAR also comes with an fiber optic front sight which is nice and does help.