I'm guessing, by description, this was an adventure bike.
I run Anakee Adventures if I'll be mainly road and they have excellent grip wet/cold wet conditions.
I disagree with your comments about the muzzle brake. He has not said what caliber nor his shooting history. We each also tolerate recoil differently. My son who climbs mountains, works out like crazy, finds the un-Braked recoil of a 6.5 Creedmoor excessive. He does need to time the brake though!
On a lite Tikka CTR in 6.5CM for hunting... maybe. On a Tikka TAC A1 in 6.5CM with scope, mount, bipod, etc., ~ 14 - 15lbs, not so much. But we can agree to disagree.
And 2,850 is kind of in the wheelhouse of the GT. I know these days everyone is chasing velocity, but trading a few tenths for an extra 50 FPS isn't worth it to me. I got an extra 100 FPS over that when I was standing on 105s, but accuracy really came together at 2,900 even.
That's 2,900 with 36.8gr H4350 and a 105 Hybrid... with a 27" barrel. Makes me think you're right where you should be actually.
Add in the fact that there are multiple velocity bullshitters spread across the forums.
