I have one of the mountain guides in 243 that my daughter uses, they are a great package. Hers does 3/4" with 85gr TSX's. Glad to hear they are making another run of them, I had a tough time finding ours. My 7mm-08 is similar to what you are contemplating. A 700 chopped off at 21" in a McMillan classic with talleys and a VX3- 2.5-8. Great handling little gun and is easily the one that see the most use for deer sized game out of my safe. I like the classic better than the Ti handle myself. Very impressed with how the 20-21" barrels handle, seems about perfect to me.
A friend is looking to build the exact gun you are describing. He just ordered the 700 youth in 243 and is ordering a Ti handle.
