I'm not sure my enthusiasm would be all that for spending mega bucks on a springer. Realistically i'd probably stretch to £600-700 for a higher end springer that is sweet from the box and to be honest I don't think that's impossible. The quality of the likes of the TX, 77, 98, 97 etc is excellent and they all retail as standard for around the £400 mark. This would then leave £200-300 for improvement and I believe companies such as Weihrauch, AA etc could produce some beauties with the extra budget. I still feel that it is important to produce affordable rifles though for the likes of people like myself who are just financially an average joe and then leave us to our own devices to improve it gradually at a time when funds are available. But for the people who are a little wealthier in life it would be superb to be able to have the option of a top bit of kit without shed loads of after market tuning required.