That price is for the Walnut stocked rifle. You can still get the black synthetic for around 300 give or take.

Shane beat me to it. Although demand has raised the price a bit, if you can find one in stock, i've found

Real world price for the walnut or laminate XL7 is in the low 400s. Still an unbeatable price. Maybe you could get a Savage for almost as cheap, but their basic walnut model has lesser wood and uglier lines if you ask me. Both should be super accurate, so that would be and interesting comparison test.

I have done a lot of research on the Marlin XL7 and purchased two of them - one a 25.06 and the other a 30.06 - in the spring of 2010. At the time, the manufacturer suggested retail price was somewhere in the neighborhood of $329.99. After shopping around, I purchased the 30.06 for less than that price and the 25.06 for a little bit more.