RE: Opinions on the Remington 700 XCR
IMO, any WSM in a 700 action wouldn't work well, because the WSM's are very fat cartridges, and it's harder to cycle the bolt.
A friend of mine's got one in .300 WSM, and the thing would jam all the time when trying to chamber.
I think a 30-06 would be better.
I see you don't want a wood stock? If you do, the Remington 673 would be good, I'm not sure if it's in 30-06 or not, it does have a free-floating barrel, I tried the dollar-bill thing on it.
My 673 is a .308 Win, and it seems to shoot very well with Federal ammunition, particularily Powershoks.