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by NuJudge
Think carefully on what you want to do with it. Do you want to compete against others, or just do it by yourself? It is easy to get an AR-type rifle to shoot 1 MOA. It takes some work to get most bolt rifles to shoot 1 MOA. The bolt action rifles that steal a lot of AR-type features seem to not need much work to shoot 1 MOA, but I have no personal experience.
There are other things you can do with rifles. One of my most meaningful experiences with a rifle in recent years was shooting a Model 1903 Springfield rifle made in 1919 and probably used in the 1919 National Matches, at the 2019 National Matches "Springfield Match" and won a Silver medal. There are rifle matches where one stands up on his hind legs and shoots at various targets, such as Metallic Silhouette, where you shoot out to 500 meters. There are Prone matches, usually just with .22 rimfire rifles any more, but at ranges out to 100 yards. There are various competitions involving multiple positions and sometimes different distances. Most of these have restrictions on features that can be present.
I used to revel in recoil and muzzle blast. Now that I am 62, I don't. If I shoot a .308 Winchester bolt rifle with 168gr target loads, 20 rounds from a bench, I can feel it the next day. Less so if it is a really heavy rifle, more so if it is a light rifle. My sensation of recoil is far higher when I am shooting heavier bullets (eg 180 gr), than when I am shooting light bullets (eg 125gr). Shooting from a bench will give you a much greater sensation of recoil than shooting standing up.
A light rifle is a nice thing if you are going to carry it around all day, and not shoot it much. Carry a heavy rifle around all day and your arms will feel like they are going to fall off, in the evening.
If all you want to shoot at is targets from a bench, I don't see what you gain with a .308 over something like a .223.
What you get with an expensive telescopic sight is usually better light transmission and more durable adjustments. If you pick a variable, more money will give you a wider range of magnification, the highest used to be 3 times the lowest, but now you occasionally see 8 times the lowest power. Are you going to use the adjustments much? With a really cheap scope, even if you don't use the adjustments much, it will go to hell soon. Even with a really good scope like a Leupold, you may still have some trouble, but Leupold will be willing to fix it, sometimes for free. Leupold's custom shop will sometimes let you design a custom reticle, with things like cross hairs appropriate for multiple distances.