Obviously phorwath write less and faster than I do... He and I are in agreement.
But I would never buy a 700 action and have it blueprinted. Cost wise you could have a custom action.
Since you used the word 'could' it allows you the wiggle room that otherwise would not exist.
This claim has been around a long time and all too often repeated without assessing the truth behind the claim. Usually a poster will find an exception and use it to prove their point. However in this instance the claim can be reduced to extremely questionable.
By sampling several well known accuracy rifle smiths, I can put it this way:
True and blueprint a Remington 700 or Winchester 70 action when installing a new barrel. $100
Labor to install barrel onto a trued and blueprinted action $290
New Bartlein barrel for installation $325
Total = $715.00
I also know that without some sort of finagling, there aren't any 'custom' actions out there for $715.00 let alone with a barrel, trigger and possibly bottom metal.
Most of the well known and often selected custom actions are now in the $1250.00 price range and can go higher than that. If you want a real shock check out the price of aftermarket bottom metal for these 'custom' actions. Surgeon gets $326.00 for the DBM bottom metal which also includes pillars and a 5-round magazine. So with the action price of $1295 + 326 = $1621.00 which is a long way above the $715.00 for blueprinting and barreling! Yes, you can save some pennies by getting PTG hinged floor plate bottom metal or their cheap version of the DBM or even reusing the Remington bottom metal, although I couldn't quite agree with that alternative.
Now, in contribution to the original question about blueprinting a Remington, everyone except 2 posters missed the primary reason for even thinking about this process let alone paying for it.
Blueprinting an M700 action, including doing the threads, is to improve and enhance shot-to-shot CONSISTENCY over the life of the barrel. Everyone wants to attempt to quantify the accuracy potential of this process and while it can produce better accuracy it is more about consistency and consistent reliability. That's why I generally add in fixing the firing pin hole and replacing the firing pin and spring. If I've taken the time to get all the other parts straight, parallel and perpendicular then I want the firing pin to strike the primer in the same spot very time with the same force. Consistency.
Obviously this does not down play any of the other suggested improvements such as stress-free bedding, free floating the barrel or a top of the line barrel. That's why I added a Bartlein to the prices above. No cheaping out there!
All of this is nothing more than a ponderous discussion which actually solves nothing without first determining what it is that you need for the activity you wish to pursue. Then put a budget to it and see where it takes you. If your needs and desires are fairly minimal, your budget might be also. Then maybe you really could go out and buy a Savage in order to solve your dilemma.
On the other hand, like the relationship between speed and horsepower, the faster you want to go, the more it costs you. The smaller you want your groups to be consistently, the more it's going to cost you. This statement stands in spite of the exceptions claimed on the internet. Shear data supports it.
Enjoy the process! Have fun with it!