Well, as others have said, you've got a whole lot going on there... and without intending any disrespect, it seems like a lot of your troubles with both the Axis AND the 7600 could have been minimized by having an experienced mentor. Again, no disrespect, but it just seems like a lot of the little challenges you've dealt with are rather basic, and should have been addressed very early on in the trouble shooting process. So if I were to make just a single point of advice, it would be to find a mentor to shoot with, and hone your knowledge, skill, and durability for recoil.
Now... that said, this is CGN and we're not in the business of only providing a single price of advice. You get to hear ALL the drawn out blather lol. So a couple other things I'll mention: (or echo from other Nutterz)
1. Sighting in 4" high at 100 yards. What's with that? Assuming it's on purpose... Why? Assuming a scope height of 1.5 inches above bore, that means you're zeroed at just 20 yards. Or 300... that's a little wacky... You said you've got lots of deer with the 7600, what's the average distance you got them at? If it isn't 20 or 300 yards, I'd suggest a new zero.
2. Scope magnification... Assuming that your 125 yard deer is a typical distance, I'm not sure why you'd have the scope zoom dialed right up. I mean, to each their own of course, but common practice in the circles I run in dictates that you "hunt" with the minimum magnification your scope offers. This allows for the quickest target acquisition on a close in deer... as in, a deer that's so close you need to get the shot off asap. But if you spot a deer out at 250 yards, chances are, THAT'S when you'll have enough time to dial the scope up to max zoom, and can take your time getting that sight picture without rushing.
3. As for recoil, there's a dozen great options, but one thing I didn't see you mention is what size of bullets you're using. Going from 180gr. to 150gr. can make a noticeable difference in recoil. Or, you said you reload, so you could go even lighter than that if it's just for deer. My cousin had some 110gr. bullets he liked for deer. Just a thought.
4. Someone already mentioned doing the axis Trigger tweak. Do it. It's super easy and free. Just watch a few you tube videos explaning how. You can use a fish weigh scale to measure your starting trigger pull, then make sure you only clip a 1/4 clip at a time and reweigh so you don't overdo it. I picked up an axis last year, and out of the box it was about 11 pounds pull IIRC. A scale, screw driver, wire cutters, and 20 minutes later it's a nice 3.5 pounds. Easy peasy. For a person who's not keen on recoil, a trigger tweak is ESPECIALLY effective at improving accuracy, because it increases the chance that the gun will go BANG before the shooter goes FLINCH ;-)
5. Now, all that said, if I were in your position, I'd sell it. You already have the 30-06. The .308 won't do anything the 30-06 can't. I'd get something flatter shooting like a .243 that would offer a little more diversity in my safe. And then I'd sight them both in to 100 yards, lol. But that's just me.
