Re: the stock: Consider a youth model and a slip on recoil pad later. If you hunt where the season allows hunting in warm and cold weather this is a good system to account for heavy layers making your stock too long.
The Model Seven is as trim an action as you'll find. Pick your cartridge based on ammo availability, but the fact is most reduced loads you can buy aren't reduced enough. Thirty something grains of powder or less, mostly less, and a 130gr bullet is low recoil.
You could get a Lee Loader to make some truly low recoil loads for a .308. The Lee Loader allows you to whack your loads together at the kitchen table if you want.
