recon a few will now advise you to pick up some clapped out old parker hale as that is a real stalking rifle bla bla...
I think you are going in the right direction, time has moved on and we have advanced from wooden planks and iron. The modern rifle smith can now choose from many different materials and tailor a rifle to a specific purpose or make a very effective universal rifle. One of the main problems in the past was weight vs performance. Long range performance and light weight did not go together, things have gotten better in that way.
In the last years I have built myself, with the help of gunsmiths a few lovely rifles. In one case it took me good half a year with hundreds of hours to get my side of the build done but it was worth it.
My latest special build has a few points that I think are vital. Firstly it has an excellent barrel, you cannot beat a good hand lapped match barrel. In all likelihood they will outperform a factory hammered barrel in several points. They are just plain fun. In my case we used a shortened 22" F/TR Lija barrel with 1/13 twist that was chambered for use with 155/168gr bullets. The barrel should have been 20" saving maybe 100 grams. The stock on my build only weighs 27.5oz (780 grams) and compensates a bit for the heavy barrel. I chose a t3 action but it could have just as well been a Remington or custom rem clone action. For reliable feed I chose AICS magazines and an Atlasworx floor plate. The total rifle alone weighs 3.5 kg which is the same weight as a Mauser M03 sporting rifle. With a lighter barrel one could save a bit of weight, but might shave off a bit of the long range performance if longer strings are shot.
Anyway I have a few lighter rifles and this would be my heavy rifle. With the K624i, moderator, bipod and steel mounts the weight crept up. With a lightweight scope/mounts it would be similar weight to a normal hunting rig.
The result and shooting performance has been excellent right out to over 900m.
At 100m this would not be an unusual group. Shot off the hood of my car a week ago.
I am not saying one should copy this build but rather think all details and components through very well. The barrel being the most important component, followed by the stock followed by the bedding followed by the action choice (in my book at least). A fault in any of these and it might not work to the level expected. also....not try to overcook things like too tight chambers or a too finicky cartridge.
I have met Mike from Brock & Norris and think he is a very good choice as well as Andy Massingham who also makes fantastic builds. Both seem to have an open mind to new methods and components.
edi
