Most of my Weatherby's are well balanced, so the weight forward wouldn't influence me one way or the other.(everyone has their own preferences) I'd lean towards the Wilderness mainly because I've never owned a light weight rifle, and with the #2 contour, it won't heat up any more then my other rifles at the range. With a 6 pound rifle I'd look for a light weight scope, and of the two caliber choices, I'd go 257 Wby. (from what I've read here, the 6.5-300 can be finicky about the ammo it likes, but other than that, the 6.5 has great ballistics) I'd still choose the Wilderness in 257Wby.