Is everyone getting a little off course here? Haha
Sorry....
A guy could do a lot worse than a factory Tikka CTR in a chassis if you're breaking into the long range stuff... even if it's PRS/SRM type match shooting. You can go CTR, Chassis, SS 3-15, and have some dough left over from your initial $2k.
If building from the ground-up, full-on custom, I'd start with a Rem 700 (or a clone) action of appropriate length and go from there....
