looking to build a custom rifle, about how much would it cost and where can i get an action

Minimum of about $2000. Remington 700 actions can be bought from www.midwayusa.com Depending on what action you want, it might be cheaper to buy a complete rifle and then sell the parts you don't want. IMO Or check out www.montanarifleman.com they sell barreled-actions for decent prices.

As I have been looking at doing the same, this is what I can tell you. It is possible to spend less than $1000 but is easy to go above $3000. It all depends on what you want and how how bad you want it. As far as actions go, there aremore than you could shake a stick at, but once again it comes down to how much do you want to spend vs. what do really want. Obviously, the more you spend the 'better' your rifle will be. Some things truely do matter, some do not. Some things are for cosmetic purposes only, and some you will never see. In general(and this is to be taken loosely), the more you spend, the more you get, however, the higher in price you go, the more marginal this edge is. Hope this helps, and if you have any specific questions, please, let me know and I will try to point you in the right direction.

Jerry

Rem 700 action = $400-500
Douglas Premium air guaged barrel= $350-400
Stock= $100-sky's the limit
Smith work= $500

I can build my own with a decent piece of american walnut and it ends up costing me $1500 every time.

Custom rifles are great. Just be sure it is exactly what you want, before you have it built. Custom rifles are notorious for being worth half of what they cost, the next day. Sometimes half is optimistic. Just be sure it is exactly what you want, and then there is no problem. If you are not 100% positive then buy a nice Cooper. If you decide to sell the Cooper, your recovery shouldn't be too bad. Tom.

Head0001 just gave some very good advice. Particularly the part about YOUR custom gun being worth way less than it cost to someone else.

Head is giving you some good advice for sure. You shouldn't buy a custom rifle unless YOU really want it. You will be hard pressed to recoup your investment. Think about it, if someone wants a custom its so that its custom to there wants. They don't want a gun built to suit you. But, I love everyone of the customs that I've built for myself and have no intentions of ever selling them.

I have had two custom rifles built, a .338-06 and a .280 AI. Both started life as inexpensive Remington 700 ADL's. Starting with a complete rifle has advantages over buying just an action. A used rifle can usually be found for cheaper than a new action, and you can enjoy shooting the rifle with the factory stock. A gunsmith will usually do a re-barrel job for less than $200, and a quality barrel starts around $200 and goes up from there. If this is all you do, you can have a "custom" for little more than a new factory rifle. You can always upgrade the stock later.