Of your 3 choices, I still agree with the Tikka.
Why? I have a good friend that says he could throw a Howa more accurately. and i know that Howa has put more money into marketing and sponsorship but i still dont see too many of their rifles at my range.
The only reasons I suggested you consider a Howa over the Tikka:
1) since budget is a consideration: with the ability to buy a barreled action you are not spending money on something you don't want. You can get the action and barrel you want, and then put it in the stock you want, without having to spend extra $ on a stock that you don't want or a non-preferred barrel length/weight as with the Tikka.
2) I strongly prefer two-stage triggers for this type of shooting discipline, and to the best of my knowledge the Tikkas don't come with one (save for the Arctic, which I think is only 308). That's a personal preference thing, though.
3) the Howa has a 3-position safety, which means you can either lock the bolt down completely, or cycle the bolt while the weapon is still on-safe. To my knowledge, the Tikkas do not offer this capability.
4) I
really don't like dealing with Beretta
Personally, I'm a Ruger M77 junkie too, but they have a
bunch of drawbacks, and unless you're a Mauser fan, they're really not worth the weight, bedding, and scope mounting hassles (N/A for the one you're considering). Of course you can't discuss Ruger in this context without hearing about the US Palma team debacle, and I'm sure they would make the same claim about the Ruger rifles that your friend does about Howa. But for me the Ruger's accuracy has not been a limiting factor.
Lots of folks have great accuracy and reliability out of their Tikkas. Howas, too: check Lowlight's video review.
Was out at -47*F ambient today, no worries with the Ruger functioning. At that temp, the humidity drops to zero, as the air simply cannot hold any water, and you are shooting thru a fog of ice. Most equipment has ceased functioning, calculations require charts, pencil and paper. Sun is just starting to peek over the southern horizon now, so spotting trace is a hoot. Have seen some of the dudes with Tikkas functioning in similar conditions. Rampant larceny out here demands a limit on the cost of weaponry, and then it's the above reasons along with the safety of the action in a ruptured case scenario that made me choose Ruger over Tikka.
If you're in the SW, none of those things really apply. If you don't have same preferences, then Tikka.