Thank you for the muzzle diameter information. That's something I can sink my teeth into by finding contours with that muzzle diameter and putting those numbers into a barrel weight calculator and seeing where that gets me. This could be the nail in the coffin.

True I could go with a shorter barrel to save weight and it would be stiffer too. I don't know about doing that with a magnum as it just seems like leaving unburned powder in a barrel is a waste, but at only 600 meters maybe this is irrelevant.

I am familiar with Manners and McMillan light weight stocks. They would do little for a top heavy muzzle heavy carry rifle unless I changed the barrel profile too. For that money I could get a Tikka and ammunition. Besides, I still like wood stocks on cold days and apparently other companies like Cooper and Montana have found a way to make wood stocks work and so will I.

6.5 prc looks good on paper, like a super .270. However, I will wait until more than one company with two options of bullets is in the game. I haven't had issues with Hornady, but I don't want to gamble that a new rifle will shoot the only commercially offered ammo well and I don't want to reload.

6.5-284 and 6.5-06 all of which I'm not familiar with. I'll first see if it is a locally offered ammo and then research what the numbers are on it. I still want something I can pull off the shelf. Yes usually I can order any ammo on line, but CO has a thing where occasionally left over tags become available to next person in line with very little notice.