I have heard the savage 11 is the better gun by many people and reviews. The howa is good but the package scope I've never heard of. The savage If I get the package scope it would be the Nikon. If I went with a rifle and bought the scope separate I would most likely go with a Nikon pro staff.

As for caliber it seems 7mm-08 and 6.5 are in the lead. Part of me thinks I might try the 6.5 but I'm going to see what the local stores have for ammo availability. The local Walmart only had one box of 7mm-08 when I looked the other day