You're right...that's an awful lot to ask of a single rifle.
Since you are primarilly focused on a reliable, quick handling, quick follow-up shot,stalk hunting rifle with 250 Yd capability, I personally don't think you can do any better than a Rem 7600.If you are leaning a little more towardthe "personal protection" slant the 7600P would fill the bill andand double as ahunting rifle; however, for my taste, you would be giving up a lot of "hunting" velocity with it's 16 1/2" barrel. Also, .308 would be an excellent caliber. By the way, you can also get a 10 round magazine for the 7600/7600P.
They handle and point like a shotgun, and have a free floated barrel which will provide the kind of accuracy you need for those longer shots you are looking for. Don't let anyone tell you a 7600 isn't accurate!!!
With the exception of the "personal protection" slant, I was looking for a rifle with the exact same features and wound up getting a 7600 in 7mm-08 from Grice Gun Shop. I went with the standard 22" barrel instead of the carbine as I didn't want to sacrafice any 7mm-08 velocity; however, at some point I
may have the barrel cut down to 18 - 19".
The factory triggers do need work! There is an aftermarket spring kit available that will reduce the pull weight, but mine also has a lot of creep. I'm taking it to my local gunsmith (excellent on triggers) this week to get the trigger taken care of.
I'm not sure what you mean by "noisy". Any rifle you get with a 16 - 18" barrel is going to be loud,unless you are referring to the forearm rattle that seems to beaffectsome of the older models (i.e. 760). The forearem on my 7600 doesn't rattel unless you actually smack it with your hand or something.
I put a Burris 3-9x40 w/Ballistic Plex reticle on mine. This reticicle allows you to sight in dead on with the main cross hairs and then use the additional aim points on the virticle cross hair for 200, 300, etc. shots.
Good luck deciding which rifle!!!!
firstshot
----------------------------------
Make your first shot count!