semi

i think either gun will suit you well performance wise, but which gun fit you the best? Personally i believe either mfg puts out guns capable of hitting the mark better than a human can do while in the field shooting at game.

as far as caliber, you are not undergunned with a 308. I personally own a few 30.06 but if they were 308's i would still be able to accomplish the job. You say your unlikely to hunt large bears, well, if you were i wouldn't use a 30.06 or 308 so you see my point. Neither one is what i call suitable for that kind of game. But for deer hunting etc... either works just fine.

what i would be most concerned about is ammo availability. 30.06 is available everywhere.. so is 270 and 243 (at least here in wisc) you can find it at a gas station during hunting season. 308 is pretty available too but you may want to look at where you shop and make sure. I usually pick up ammo at walmart if i see it, and 308 hasn't really been a staple in my neck of the woods. Same with some of the other box stores. I am not saying you will have a hard time finding it, but ammo availability is a big deal this year. But as far as performance, either caliber does the trick. Whatever game a 30.06 will take so will a 308 assuming its deer sized. You do get better choices with bullet weight in the 30.06. But again, use the right tool for the job. I don't know many people who hunt coyotes with a 30.06 using 100 gr bullets.

as far as the scopes go, i don't know much about either but i would ask the question, is one scope worth the $160 upcharge? or are you better getting a Nikon or something with the money you save for the same price.

i just got a Marlin xl7 in 30.06 with new rings, Nikon prostaff scope that is quite the shooter for $450. It shoots better than my Win M70 consistently and my M70 was over $550.