Not to hijack a thread, but I face the same issue as most.. Caliber/cartridge selection.. One QUALITY rifle to do everything that I am likely to be exposed to needing.
when someone comes to me wanting what your asking for, first thing we do is have a COMING TO JESUS conversation where i do a bit of gentle educating. first thing i would say is if you want one rifle to do everything, know that you will be making compromises to do this. Not that its not possible but there WILL BE COMPROMISES.
second thing i do is send this list of questions to the person asking the question because at this point i do not expect them to be a customer, just someone looking for information:
how will this rifle be used in the field, hunting or just shooting? If hunting, how do you hunt?
what game will you be hunting with this rifle? Main game, secondary game?
how far do you want to be able to reach with this rifle?
do you have a weight goal for this rifle, bare rifle weight?
do you handload your own ammo?
are you opposed to wildcats?
do you have a budget for this rifle?
This is not so i can say, you can not afford this or that, but to figure out what the best option would be for your application. if it is my opinion that a full custom rifle is best for your goals, i will say that and possibly that maybe it would be better to save up for another year or so to fund a full custom project.
once i get all this info, i can make a much better recommendation for a rifle that will exceed your goals and cover all your needs and requirements.
this will surprise many of you but i talk customers out of my wildcats about 75% of the time in favor for a commercial chambering. If i feel one of my rounds are the best option, i will say that, if i do not, i will say what i think is the best option.
if someone tells me they will be hunting mature elk most of the time, i will lean toward a dedicated elk rifle that will work also on smaller game. If someone says they want a deer rifle the majority of the time but still want to be able to hunt elk, i will lean toward a dedicated deer rifle that will also work on elk with some common sense limitations.
what i generally get is this statement, "I want a rifle thats light enough to carry all day, powerful enough to anchor a bull elk at the shot at 1000 yards and with very little recoil. And one that i can mount a 40 oz scope on and still be under 7 lbs total"........
unfortunately, most guys getting into the custom rifle world listen to the things online from so called experts. I spend a huge amount of my time, REEDUCATING guys so that they can set realistic goals and are not trying to chase a dream that will only lead to headaches and frustrations because of what they say someone say online.
i am an expert at this, i do NOT know it all but i do know WHAT WORKS and what WILL NOT WORK. I know that because i have tried most things in actual real world, first person testing. And i am always ready to freely offer my experience to those who ask. So they do not need to learn the hard way and waste a load of money.
if i can not do what they want, i will be the first to tell them that. Fortunately, that rarely happens.