John, you might try WalMart too (maybe that's your "local store"...I don;t know). They generally have the best prices and will order the rifle for you if they don;t have the one you want in-stock (10 days).

I have an old Marlin Glenfield Model 75 autoloading .22LR. It's a nice little rifle, but nowhere near the quality of the Ruger. It has a wood stock that I've refinished once and it still gets banged around quite a bit. It's more accurate than a wrist-rocket, but not much more. The Ruger will do better in that department.