ORIGINAL: RugerM77.270
ORIGINAL: ShatoDavis
Either of the remington's will be fine. Eventually if you like the accuracy game you will need to upgrade to a custom barrel and the Remington is a great platform for a build job. I would say that a 22" barrel would be about perfect for the 308. Get one and shoot the throat out then rebarrel with a Shilen or equivolent.
I'd suggest the varmint model simply because I think the stock is better suited for your purposes.
This is kind of what I was thinking. Get the Remington 700 sps varmint, Bed and float it, shoot it to heck and back to learn the basics, then use the action as a platform for a custom built.
Don't forget about the Sendero and 700P rifles from Remington...
Or even the FN PBR/SPR...
Or the CZ 550 Varmint...
All are great actions to build off of later on...