I had one of the first one out, it was chambered in 6br. The gun preformed well, and would work in the capacity you wish. At the St Louis Benchrest club they offer a factory class, and this gun is fairly popular with the people shooting in the class. The gun is also capable, and many will also compete with it in the IBS light and heavy gun classes. I have seen some impressive groups, and score shot with these guns.
The gun does have a few quirks though, with the long barrel the gun is a bit nose heavy. I found that I had to pay close attention on how I handled the gun in the bags, as the gun wanted to lift out of the rear bag. The gun was hard to free recoil, but if I would pin the rifle in the rest, or hold it down into the bag, it would track well. Some have remedied this problem by cutting about 4 inch of the barrel, or adding weight to the rear of the stock. In factory form the gun weighs in a 12.75 lbs. No these mods would through you out of a factory class. The other problems is the centerline of the barrel is set high in the stock and the gun has a bad tendency to torque, so make sure the gun is level, and watch your sand bags that the gun doesn't push all the sand to one side. The last down flaw of the gun is the target accu-trigger You will never get it down to the 6oz rang, and the gun function properly. I found that it would be down right frustrating when you closed the bolt and it would lock up the trigger at lower settings, causing you to miss conditions, and to concentrate more on the trigger than shooting. This can be reminded by turning the weight up to about 12 oz. Placing a lighter bolt handle will also make a big difference. Last off, like any factory Savage the gun will have a heavy bolt lift. There is a few gunsmith in the country that can fix this issue. (Make sure the smith understands the Savage platform, The gun is not like a Remington and should not be treated like one.) Again doing so would violate use in a factory class.
The gun may look like the F class, but there is a few difference. For some unknown reason savage designed the rear of the stock like an unfinished 2x4, it is very wide and requires a special made rear bag. The Benchrest has a tradition width stock , and will work with standard rear bags. Also the f class has a longer 30 inch barrel, over the 29 inch barrel on the Benchrest. As you have noticed the Benchrest is a dual port, and the f class is a right port, but they also have two different action screw spacing. So the stock will not interchange.
As far as a 6br goes, it is a great round, and a great performer. It will do well out to 600 and 1000 yards, don't worry. Out of the chambering's offered I bet this is the most popular, and would be the one I would choose. I hope this answers your questions.
