I really appreciate these replies. I should have stated where I am located. I am in East Gwillimbury, ON - just north of Toronto.
Great thing that you guys reminded me about the discharge of firearm laws. I checked those for my area and:
"A land owner or a tenant, or agent authorized in writing by the
land owner or tenant, and the discharge is of a shotgun or a
rifle of no greater caliber than .275 ....."
I'd say then that the first rifle ought to be one I could legally discharge on my property and perhaps a .270 wins out by that measure.
I had just assumed a .308 would be fine as my neighbour owns one. Realistically this will be fired many more times on a range than on my property (finding an appropriate range where I could do all that I wanted - rifle, handgun, skeet - that's another story entirely!)
There is no wrong answer between the cartridges you've shown interest in; they all operate within the same performance envelope. Choose the rifle that best suits your budget, interest, and imagination and just go with which ever cartridge its chambered for. The rifle is the key, not the cartridge. Some questions that might influence your choice should include . . .
Is the trigger good, poor, or just acceptable acceptable?
Can you cycle the action at your shoulder or is it too stiff or too difficult to reach?
Do you want a fixed or a detachable magazine?
Do you want iron sights?
Does the rifle have a stock that allows fitting if it needs modification?
Does the rifle provide a suitable scope mounting solution with the correct eye relief?
Is the rifle suitable for all day carry without undue fatigue?
Does the rifle handle nicely, or do you find the controls inconvenient?
Will the rifle's finish protect it from exposure to the elements?
Is the finish shiny or subdued, and is this the finish you're after?
As you'll note, many of these questions require actually handling the rifle before you can answer them. So go to your local gun shop, handle a few different rifles, and decide what works, what doesn't, and determine why it does or doesn't work. From even just that experience, you'll be in a much better position to decide which rifle to purchase. Avoid blind magazines, cheap plastic stocks, and bargain basement scope/rifle combination sets.

For deer and varmints you'll want the .270, and with 150 grain Nosler Partitions it'll work well on moose. Stay away from the Remington 770, it's poorly made. Try out Savage, Ruger, Tikka, Weatherby Vanguard, Marlin XL-7...all good rifles for reasonable money. Best bang for your buck on scopes will probably be the Bushnell Elite 3-9X40, it has great glass you'd pay over double for from Leupold, and Rainguard, which lets you see and shoot something even in the rain.
All 3 of those choices will work and with good availability of ammunition.
Depending on budget , Savage has many offerings in many price ranges.
The only way I would sway is the .308 as you mention some range use, manageable recoil and abundance of many type of ammo for such.




























