you're spot on with what I have been thinking foneguy. Kits are nice because everything is guaranteed to work together. A semi-inlet is nice too because the hard part of laying out the main profile, leveling, etc. is already done. Then again it's probably all for the better that the easier ways of starting this thing don't fit exactly what I'm looking for - I should get on with doing a stock from scratch too.

Wayne Dunlap of Dunlap Woodcrafts just up the road in Chantilly spends most of his retirement on the road looking for wood for rifle stocks whilst his employees turn out custom furniture - coffee tables and what not - to pay the bills. I'm confident I can find exactly what I want at a fair price there so I don't need to buy online unseen. As for barrels. I'm thinking long 45cal, heavier type, but swamped profile for the benefit of added balance.