I have 3 Gibbs, 240, 25, and 7mm, and love them. Making fireformed brass really isn't that big of a PITA. Kind of fun actually.

What you could do is get a heavy barrel, chambered in .308 Win., and get a tad longer throat in it so you can seat the bullets out a little further and not have so much bullet stuck back into the case. The .308 Win, is plenty accurate enough for 500-600yd target shooting. If you feel really adventurous, take a look at the 6.5X.284, it is an awesome round for target shooting.