loder,
This is the way my luck usually goes: I purchased a .32 cal barrel blank at a gun show. I went over to Gunsmith A (A nationally known smith) and asked him if he would build me a schuetzen rifle. He said yes, but he was backed up for two years...
I then asked Gunsmith "B" (A close friend of "A") and he said he could do it in 6 mos.
I gave B the barrel, and the bbl'd action (Ruger #3). About 6 mos later, I purchased wood from gunsmith "A" for the rifle... and gave that to "B"... Gunsmith A said he would drill the wood for the stock bolts because it was kind of "touchy". (Which he did...) "A" even built the double set trigger assm for the rifle... Finally the rifle was completed...
four and 1/2 years later...! Gunsmith "B" has since passed on to his eternal reward, and Gunsmith "A" is near 90 years old... About the time I got the rifle back, my marriage fell apart, and I went thru a divorce...
The Schuetzen Society bombed and now there are no more matches... Today, over 15 years later, I have yet to fire the rifle...
My best advice is: Select a smith that you've confidence in and get and estimate...
Then double it! Maybe then you'll get your rifle...
I retain my sanity by keeping about 6 or 8 projects going at all times... (Amoung half a dozen smiths...) That way, I have something coming in about two or three times a year...