Now that you have gotten specific with the two rifes that are tempting you at a gunshop, IMO the best choice for your western hunt will be the 7 Rem mag. From your description the 280 sounds like a fairly heavy rig, besides you'd have to get a scope. Do you realize how much a 3.5-10 Leupold is worth?
Grab that 7 rem mag before someone else does.
