I agree with the others that 308 Win or 30-06 is going to be a better cartridge starting out.
Based on your location in the Pacific Northwest and what you are looking for in a rifle, a Kimber Adirondack may be something to look at. Lightweight, stainless, threaded and is available in 308 Win (and 3 other calibers). Put some decent glass on there and you'd have a hard to beat lightweight rig. You might look at Zeiss Conquest HD5 scopes for their Lotutec coating, again simply because you are in the Pacific Northwest.
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