Well he did say " varmint and target", so I imagine he would be wanting a medium heavy / heavy barrel, the 2" really won't make a bit of difference in accuracy, in velocity the rule of thumb is about 50' per second per 1" of barrel. Don't know what your budget is but Savage rifles have an excellent reputation for accuracy out of the box and I've heard nothing but rave reviews about the accu-trigger. Save a little coin on the gun and buy a better scope.