I too am an out of shape middle-aged newbie. I purchased my Izmash
7-4 from Mac Tilton at MTguns. Being a newbie I can't give advice
based on experience in competition, but I've been shooting my Izmash
for a few months now and it's a great rifle. Mac at mtguns.com is
very helpful/available/reliable. I can't recommend him highly enough.

Nathan

--- In biathlonnorthamerica@yahoogroups.com, "ronbott" <ronbott@...>
wrote:

> It also seems as the Anschutz 1827 is regarded as the best, but for
an out of shape,
> middle-aged newbie like myself is just a bit to pricey. I'm leaning
towrds the Izhmash 7-4,
> and was wondering what would be a good price for this model. Any
additional thoughts or
> dealer listings most appreciated.