Need advice on my Remington 700 total overhaul

[insomni]

I own a .308 Remington 700 SPS, and I absolutely love her! That being said, she was a great entry level rifle, but I'm wanting to get into something more precise. I'm wanting something more along the lines of an M-24.... me being the cheap bastard I am, I want the handling and accuracy of an M24, but I dont want to pay the price of buying an actual M-24

So, I'm in the concept stage of upgrading my rifle
What I want to put on it:
HS Precision PST-11 or similar stock
A medium contour barrel (don't want heavy because I'd like this to still be more or less portable, but stiffer than the light barrel it has atm)

what I'll definitely keep:
Leupold XVIII 3-9x scope (new scope will come WAY later in the process... still have to sell the wife on this one)
Harris Model L bipod.
My upgraded trigger assembly
Sling.

Torn on:
magazine
receiver/action

So now I'm asking for advice. Looking for a good place to buy a 24" medium-tactical contoured match barrel. Also, is it even worth keeping the receiver/action from my current R700 & just slapping it into the new stock? Or would it be better if I just sold it and put the money towards a new rifle all together? So far parts are coming in as about 1/3 the cost of the rifles I'm looking at.

What should a gunsmithing bill for this come in at?

also any recommendations on brands for the barrel, stock, gunsmith, etc will be greatly appreciated

thanks y'all!

[insomni]

also, with shop recommendations, I'd prefer the shop to be in North Carolina. Virginia, and South Carolina would be alright also.... although if you know a really good shop that can do a build by mail, i'll be willing to entertain the idea.