Rorschach,
After a couple dozen of each the short version is this-
Kimber= Slightly lighter weight, best stock on a factory gun, good action, good trigger, average to slightly below average barrels, relatively poor QC. You stand a very good chance of having to do work to correct things that they absolutely should have not left the factory with- only 2 out of the last dozen or so Montanas/AD/etc I've used were correct straight out of the box. Check the mag box, relieve mag box, shorten front base screw, bed the lug, and 30-40% need a full bed job. A 280AI had a chamber cut so bad there was no choice but to rebarrel.
With all all of that done you are realistically looking at a 5.5lb 1.5-2MOA gun. Yes, some or even most will shoot random 3 shot "groups" under a MOA, but they won't do it on demand. I.e.- place a 1 inch dot at 100 yards and they will not hit it consistently.
Tikka T3/T3x SL= Slightly heavier, one of the best "plastic" stocks on a factory gun, great action, great trigger, great barrels, excellent QC. You stand a very good chance of getting a rifle that will shoot 10 (ten) round groups of right at 1 MOA. There will be no work that needs done, just load and shoot. They will absolutely smash a 1 inch dot at 100 yards on demand.
With the Tikka you are realistically looking at a 6lb true 1MOA gun.
Now one might infer from the above that I don't like Kimbers.... Not true. I just do not delusion myself with what they are. If ultimate lightweight rifle is wanted and 2moa will accomplish what you want and you don't mind having to tinker, than the Kimber will work great. And truthfully a true 2moa gun is perfectly adequate to kill well past 400 yards and you might get fortunate and get one that does better. As well if
you like the package that the Kimbers offer you could rebarrel and have a very good shooting rifle.
On the other hand the T3's offer a no drama affair. Put bullets in them and go. Replace the stick with a lighter one and you get down to nearly the same weight as the Kimbers with none of the drama.
I have both, I use both, I like both, but I recognize what they both do.
As for scopes and distance.... Here we go again.
Scopes serve one purpose. One. That is to steer bullets to point of aim (POA). They are not observation devices. In that they must hold zero through abuse and accidents, stay zeroed no matter what and no matter the round count, and if using to adjust for distance they must track correctly every single time, they must return to zero without fail, they should have a means to adjust for wind in the reticle and the reticle increments should match the turret increments.
Dialing for range and holding in the reticle for wind is the fastest most consistent way to get a hit on single relatively small target under field conditions from awkward positions with varying wind.
Leupold does not make a single scope that meets all of those requirement that is suitable for a regular hunting rifle... no matter what you pay. And yet no one wishes they did more than me.
SWFA makes two scopes that meets all of those requirements. One is less than $300 and one is less than $600.
The right scope with the right rifle with rifle with the right bullet makes what is your "450 yard" shot for you right now, a 600+ yard shot later.....
As as far as which clambering they are all more alike than they are different in regards to potential terminal ballistics. Where they differ is in easily obtainable precision, especially with factory ammo, recoil, trajectory and wind drift. Given your rates requirements... yes the 6.5 Creedmoor is easily the top choice and by a long shot. After that the 308 takes it due to factory ammo options which most all others lack.
I own a savage and used it once. Like others have said, the action of the bolt just isn't as smooth. I would rather suffer carrying a heavy barrel rem 700 sps 308 I built instead of the weight savings I had with the savage. One more thing to consider with the accuracy portion is that most new rifles will shoot great. You'll just need to find the right ammo. Even factory. Especially with the variety you can get with a 308, you can find a factory round that'll shoot great. Some guys are stubborn and won't stop shooting a certain round and would rather blame the rifle instead of the poor matching of ammo. Case in point: when finding a round for my newest 308, I tried 9 different brands, weights, velocities until I found one that shot the best. Turns out, it was one of the cheaper rounds. Lots to do with bullet weight, velocity, and barrel twist rate. You can read more on that with other threads. Just my 2 cents.
A correctly put together rifle with a good barrel will shoot most ammo well. If I had to go through 9 different ammo combos to get one that shot to standard I would've.... well I wouldn't have. I would have rebarreled after the second one. Picky guns suck.
