What rifle do I want?

[49ereric]

Cheapest new savage 30.06 you can find and spend the coin on premium ammo and see what the barrel likes.
a used Remington 721 06 with a seldom shot barrel would be a very good choice as well. Great barrels on those old 721 rifles.

 

[Chuckybmd]

Lots of good points about getting the 6.5 up to snuff. Definitely like the seven mag myself, though hard to beat the tikka as you know, but not sure how to include your rail requirement on that.

 

[Stalker69]

Bass Pro, of all places, has the Browning Hell’s Canyon Speed in 6.5 PRC on sale for about $950. I bought one last week and it’s nice as hell, but weighed about 6.6 lbs vs the 6.5 lbs claim. I’m happy with the purchase. Leaves a lot of money left for higher end glass.

One tenth of a pound, probably the packing grease, once cleaned off it should get you there.