You lost me at you want to keep the pos rem 700....
I won't buy another 700, but my 1st rifle was a 700 ADL in 30-06 that I bought new in 1975. I haven't hunted with it in years, but won't sell it either. I can understand where the OP is coming from.
To the OP. I put my 700 in a McMillan Edge stock before I retired it and with a reasonable hunting scope in Talley lightweight mounts weight is right at 7 lbs. If you like the rifle that would make a good all around rig. But for about the same money as an Edge stock you could just buy a Tikka 30-06 and come in at about the same weight and have a better rifle. Retire the old 700, but keep it.
Personally I'd retire the 30-06 and sell everything but the 7-08. Then I'd replace the 243 with a 223. The 7-08 is a good all around choice. Nothing wrong with a 243, but it is too close to 7-08 in my opinion. A 223 does everything a 243 does on varmints and could be used on deer in a pinch. The 7-08 will take you from deer up to anything but big bear. I might let some of those lever guns go too if I needed to clear out some space in the safe.
