Naw, all these girls are built exactly the same, general shape of wood, action and barrel. What sets them appart is the quality of the wood.
Lot's of wood from the mid 70s to the 80s is awfully nice. Hell, some new
ones have great wood. So if you can find one with nice wood as opposed to a plain one. why not buy good/decent wood????
Roofing inspector: Your skill set and what you want are actually quite different than the avaerage #1 owner. By most accounts and your own statements you are gong to re-barrel and re-stock most of what you buy so yes, the action is the only critical issue. Most guys have neither skills you have or desire to radically alter their #1s. Yours are built spefically to your tastes but most guys that buy an action would spend a lot of money to end up with a usable rifle, not have your skill set.
By the way I didn't say buy rare or collectable #1. I didn't even say pay a premium for the wood. Lots of run of the mill #1s have decent wood and many average rifles regarding caliber, configuration and vintage, have nice wood.
In 40 years the single biggest complaint I've seen voiced by owners is they don't like the wood on their #1 rifle. I have never seen anybody complain about the action and the complaints about barrels is usually not cosmetic but "I can't get it to shoot".
So, of the variables a guy has any control over, the wood is really the only thing he can select for other than price. Right now there are at least half a dozen 300 Win Mags, used on the web at prices substantually lower than a NIB #1 in 300 Win Mag "B". As mentioned by others, it's pretty hard to wear out a 300 Win Mag.
If $600 buys you a good looking #1 with decent wood and $550 buys you a post. Why not pay $50 extra and buy the nice one????
RWT