A word of advice for the wanting of a custom rifle from a builder out of your area.
Its not uncommon for a well known builder to be backed up to over a year or more out. Understand that going into the deal. ( not all are that backed up).
Choosing a builder close by in my experience will cut down on the "out of site out of mind eye syndrome". You will establish a working relationship with them and they will want your feed back. If a problem happens the fix is easily carried out rather then shipping back and forth several times.
I have experienced this a few times and its very frustrating.
Remember most of the builders are Very Good Guys.
But there are some watch out.
Do your research well and held them to their commentments. If needed draft a contract and hold them to it.
This is just my experience.