Greetings @Eamonn,
I suspect that your head may be spinning like a top by now. The first thing to remember is that if you persist with this hunting and shooting thing (and I suspect that you might) you will have many rifles, often several at the same time. This will be your first rifle so it needs to be easy to shoot and easy to feed. Some of the posts are talking about their ideal rifle after many years of shooting but you are not there yet. I would strongly suggest you follow your initial instinct and buy a .308 with a reasonable scope and a suppressor. The reasons are the available and reasonably priced ammo and the cartridge doing most things well. In a few years, once you have decided if you are a bush hobbit, tops hunter or target shooter you can buy a specialised rifle and scope to suit as you will know what you need.
My first rifle was a .308 and it is still here closing on fifty years later. QED.
Regards Grandpamac.
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