I bought a .243 Winchester at a gun show this past winter in Springfield, MO. It is the Ranger model with a lower cost wood stock.
I mounted a Bushnell 3-10 X 50 scope which is plenty big and bright.
I don’t think the original owner fired the rifle more than five times. There are no scratches or dings in the wood or on the blue steel.
CDNN has original walnut(uncheckered) for your .243. $70 if memory serves. Got the same rifle years ago. Tip was warping and making hard contact on the left side of the barrel. Sanded it out to assure the rifle was accurate, but buttpad had issues, so I replaced it. Wonderful dark walnut, as opposed to the see-it-for-a-mile blonde original.
Excuse the late post; I’m googling my account on FR and this came up.
I went through hell trying to zero my scope on the Ranger. Turns out the cheap stock was warped pretty hard to one side. Sanded it to get free-float and it worked fine. I’ve since bought a walnut stock, but might throw the beater back on there for hunting.
Thought it might be a repeat. Still have the rifle?