Thanks for all the input. It is nice to get all this advice, but in the end I chose the CVA Kodiak. A buddy has one and has had no trouble with it at all. The Kodiak has the 28″ barrel and metal sites but still retails for less than $200 for the blue on black. Plus has a limited lifetime warranty. Another question – the Cabela’s guy suggested that it needs to have 100 rounds run through it to season the barrel. He sold me a box of round balls for this which is not going to cost much, but I was wondering if 100 rounds is really necessary. I did plan on spending some time on the range with it this week, but wanted to get some input on how many rounds I should put through it.