ChasingPro- your choice in post #7 is fine. Only thing I would change is a Defiance Tenacity, Arc Nuke, or Bighorn Origin. Save a couple hundred bucks. Buy a XTR3.
I would rather have high quality glass and a okish rifle than a great rifle with okayish glass.
XTR3
XRS3
Mark 5
Minox LR
There's other good glass But these are the ones I'm familiar with.