Welcome to the fire!
If I were you I'd find a CLR in 7RM and rebarrel.
If you're really trying to spend money on stuff that'll improve accuracy I'd put your flute money into a trigger.
Also for handling and weight a 24" barrel will sacrifice a mere 100 fps or so. No deer will know the difference but you will when you walk it through the forest. As mentioned above, it's tough to find a #2 that'll finish out at 26".
A 22" 25-06 could be even better yet. Kimber makes one at 24".
