Welcome. You're asking good and appropriate questions, but it's a bit more involved than maybe you think. There are a number of differences, but not in quality or anything you might recognize right away. All the same basic function as far as everything but the magazines go. They all work well. Depending upon the year the short actions can be different lengths. Untill you go to buy a stock, it's not all that important which action you get, performance or accuracy-wise. The key is to know there are differences, and therefore you need to know what you have before you order a stock. Honestly, my best first advice is to get a paid membership here. It's only $15 per year and allows you access to great technical articles that answer most of your questions and gets you access to member classifieds where you may find exactly what you are looking for cheap.
Also, I think you're going about it right. If you have any mechanical ability at all and/or experience with guns, get a used action for around $250 or a used donor rifle for around $300 and have at it. But DO get a membership here so you can read the articles and ask for help. Lotta good guys here with a ton of knowledge who are eager to share and encourage ya.
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