Anyone have any BACKED-UP opinions of them ? I was interested in acquiring one. I heave never shot one, so I have no idea about reliability, or whether it's a total P.O.S. ...Any help would be appreciated.

My experience has been with the SBS tactical, which is the same action as the prohunter.  The SBS rifles are very well made- the action is very sturdy, and I like the safety system.  The box magazines actually work well, unlike Remington's discontinued system.  The trigger pull out of the box on mine was outstanding.  The bolt is very easy to field-strip and reassemble.  The two that I have fired would shoot 1/2" groups at 100 yards with Federal match ammo out of the box.

The one complaint I have about the SBS rifles is that the plastic stock is too flimsy.  The forend will flex away from the barrel under hand pressure.  Doesn't seem to cause a problem until you put a bipod on it, then things kinda go to hell.  For a tactical rifle the McMillan stock is a must, but for a hunting rifle you could probably make do with the plastic one.  If I was going to get an SBS for hunting I'd probably get the wood stock  and just have it bedded.

Ditto sparky, re: SBS tactical.  Rifle is great out of the box (which is good cause there really isn't any aftermarket parts and a lack of people that know how to work on them), except for the stock which is a complete POS.  CDNN has the McMillan stock on sale for $380, but I have the sporter weight barrel on mine, and the McMillan stock is inletted for the HB so would prolly look a little goofy.  For hunting, you would likely be fine with the plastic stock.  CDNN also has the wood stocks on sale, if you want to "upgrade" to one of them.  Mags seem to work good, but are very expensive (once again, on sale at CDNN now).

One other possible concern is the current import situation.  Steyr recently dumped GSI as their importer (which is why CDNN has all this crap on sale - looks like they bought out all of GSI's current stock) - they have a new one lined up, Dynamit-Noble, but no one there really seems sure if they are going to be importing/dealing with Steyr's entire line.  Some people claim to have talked to some folks at D-N and say some have said they are only importing pistols, some have said only rifles, and some said both.  So, spare parts may possibly be an issue in the future.

Rocko