I gave my God Son a Marlin X7 in .243 Winchester. On my digital shipping scales the rifle weighed 7.81 lbs with a 3.5-10X40MM Leupold mounted to the rifle, a sling attached, & 5 rounds of ammo in the magazine. The rifle only weighed 6.6 lbs without the scope, sling, or ammo. The rifle shoots very tight groups with Winchester Super-X 100 gr. Power-Points that are less than $20 per box locally. The rifle was for sale at Academy for $269.99. So, I think this rifle would meet all of your criteria. Also, even though it has the standard injection molded stock it fits very well and the stock is thin in the wrist and just feels really good in my hands.