That's a good price if you can get it. Mine was over $1200 after shipping. I can tell you mine now looks nothing like the stock one they sell on their site. The only thing left original is the upper and lower receivers. And everything I changed was a personal preference issue, not performance. They are nice right out of the box.
I had a 20" that was a hair heavy but is probably the best priced hunting ar over the counter that I've had. It was about a 3:4" gun bum could probably do better with different loads. Go for it My biggest complaint was the round non flat hangaurd when shooting off a stand
How was it to carry? About the only knock I see is people saying it can be heavy to hike around
It seemed a little heavy out of the box to me. Mine now weighs 10.3lbs with the leupold and 11.1lbs with the photon. I don't mind the weight like a lot of folks do.