These are the good old days for all of us who love rifles. Never have there been so many choices in cartridges, barrel lengths and styles, action size, carbon steel or stainless, stock design and materials.

It wasn’t always thus. Back in the early ’60s when I was just into my teens, there weren’t a lot of rifle models, nothing like the array of choices available today. Nor were there a lot of variations of each model. You might have a choice of standard, lightweight, or heavy barrels, and maybe a choice of short or long actions.

These days the problem is deciding among so many choices. A recent check of the Weatherby website showed 25 Vanguard variations—carbon or stainless steel, synthetic and wooden stocks, models for women and young hunters, target, varmint, police, and chassis-stocked models.

My personal favorite, and one of the very best hunting rifles available today, is the Back Country. With a price of $1,429 it is one of the more expensive Vanguards, but the well selected, high quality list of features justifies the cost. The Back Country neatly connects a lot of dots in an attractive and functional package.