A few years ago I got my daughter a Weatherby Vanguard in the GH2 pink spiderweb camo in 7mm-08. Very accurate, light weight with the youth model and 20” barrel. Recoil with full power loads is no problem for her since she was 13 years old and petite. We put a Leupold vx-ii 2-7x with Leupold Dot on it and she has now made two great shots on mule deer with it. One at 209 yards and the second was 260 yards. Both deer dropped and dead right there, in fact the second one never even twitched after the shot to the chest dropped it in its tracks. It’s only ever been fed hand loads but has been very easy to get sub MOA with nearly every thing I’ve tried in it.
On the other hand, I just picked myself up a Tikka T3x superlite in 7mm-08, it’s a sportsman’s warehouse exclusive. And even though for years I hated that Tikka only had the three round magazine, I decided that there are far too many good reviews on them to let this stop me from trying one. I also like that I can have a short action round built on a long action for my long heavy loads that won’t fit a normal sa magazine. I still need a scope for this one and to do some load work, but I am very impressed with this rifle so far. As long as it’s accurate I’m going to be happy with the -2 rounds in the magazine that could be had with the Weatherby. At 5.9 lbs bare this thing will be a nice change from what I’ve been packing all over the mountains after elk.
As to your choice, either one will be great but depends on personal preference and what your intentions for it are? Personally I’d opt for the 7mm-08 and lean towards Tikka just a tad, after I shoot this one that could change?
