Jason - since you say you have 6 months. try to get a good gunsmith to shorten the pull length on a long action stock for you or find someone who already has. If you have truble working them, the stocks are probably to long. your problem w/ the long actions may just disappear w/ that simple fix. The problem w/ that is that it makes your decision that much harder[:@] because you have all those long actions to choose from. If your dead set for a short action go w/ the 300wsm. Another option is the Ruger #1, they have no action as they are a single shot. Its really nice to have a 26"-28" barrelled rifle that is shorter than most rifles w/ 24" barrels. I know I didn't make the choice any easier. Good luck