Is there a difference between Savage & custom actions? The short answer is yes. However MOST shooters(and I mean 99.9%), will never see that difference. For barrels, there is no way to know which barrel will be best based by the name. ALL premium barrels are going to perform very well. Brux & Bartlien are considered to be the front runners by the multitude, but why? Well, because people say so. There is no scientific data or evidence backing up the claim. My thoughts are to go with a barrel name YOU trust, for whatever reason that may be! Confidence in your product choice is an important thing. What I’m saying is if you spent many, many years using one barrel maker, and on your next barrel change it was changed to another maker, instead of your long-standing trusted brand(without your knowledge), you would likely never give it a thought performance wise. You are correct with Glass....it is in it’s own world completely! No one will dispute to go with the highest tier glass you can afford. Few can afford true top tier glass! I certainly cannot! Even within each tier there are levels. And going further still, our eyes often “SEE” through glass different. So taking two scopes in the same class, people can have drastically different opinions of clarity. Look through as many as you can and choose the highest class you can afford, which is also pleasing for your eye.