I know that Savages have the excellent acctrigger's on them, are reasonably priced, and have very good out of the box accuracy.

700's are fine and you can get one in about 400 different styles, same with the model 70's. I like the 70 Classics w/ controlled feed.

BAR's are excellent semi-automatics, probably the best for hunting rifle stuff.

If I were buying a new rifle, which I rarely do (like one in a box), I'd find me either a Classic 70 or 700 w/ a 26+" bbl and in 25-06.