Rifles like the Classic have been marginalized largely due to the market being saturated with $300-ish black plastic stocked guns. Not that there's anything wrong with them, they certainly have their place, but having so many rifles available at lower price points kinda stops a lot of people from ever moving up. Coupled with the fact that we now have a generation or maybe two who's first gun was black and plastic, they see nothing nostalgic about wood and blued steel. Their idea of an upgrade would be a fiberglass stocked, stainless rifle. Again, not that that's wrong or anything, and I own my share of all of the above. But to me a classic hunting rifle will always include wood. The American Classic is probably the only factory Savage model that is beautiful aesthetically as well as functionally.