RE: Need a new gun (well i think i do anyways)
Give Remington a call, can't hurt and they'll proberly treat you pretty fairly.
For the new gun, savages have a reputation of being very accurate out of the box. Not classy, but then, who cares about classiness out in the woods? .308 is a very good all around cartridge. 7mm mag is also a very good choice for the longer ranges.