Price has gone up a lot since production has either been suspended or the gun has been dropped--not sure of the current status. Ruger didn't do a bad job of getting game gun weight right, but a lot of people will notice that the balance is significantly weight forward. Some will like that, some won't, but that part isn't as typically "game-gunish" as the rest of the package. Given the gun's weight, no need to make it 3" other than the fact that some American buyers think they have to have a 3" gun. And I don't care for the safety/selector combo, but then I'm very used to straight-ahead tang safeties.