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Well Gatsby, the only custom rifle I can think of that would require a "very quick lock time" would be a target rifle. In that case I would opt for the Remington or perhaps one of the more specialized target actions available.

However in every other case including a Snipers Rifle, I'd put reliability over lock time in importance. I have been a sniper long ago, and I understand the job of a sniper very very well. A super accurate rifle is important, but to state things in a factual way, I would take an MOA rifle that was 100% reliable over an 1/4 MOA rifle that may fail. You see, I am a good shot and i have known a lot of good shots in my life, but under field conditions, especially when you are not in a built up acre with all the support you need, you cannot take as much time to set up every shot as you would like. In the "Sandbox" today, out troops hold the upper hand and snipers work more like Police counter snipers then they did in the Viet Nam war.
In general, sniping is not done in a static way, but in a moving battlefield, and i expect we'll see more of that kind of shooting in the near future. In those kinds of fights, the sniper is going to have to use human skill and adaptability more then static preparations.
With all this said, I will state my case this way
A general purpose sniper rifle is going to be a VERY rugged and reliable HUNTING rifle, and not a special target rifle.
True there is always going to be a call for a shot now and then where a special rifle is going to be just what's needed, but out of every 100 rounds fired in combat, I would say at least 95 of them would not fall into that category.
The "best Snipers rifle" to my way of thinking is NOT what most other men (including some other military men) would envision.
If I were to describe the ideal rifle for sniping for most applications it would be made on a controlled feed action with a one piece bolt, with a detachable box magazine. It would not be in a super magnum caliber, but probably in a "non military caliber" like a 270 Winchester or 280 Remington. I would not want it to be any heavier then 14 pounds with its scope, and it would have a integral suppressor.
In effect, it would be very similar to what i would hunt planes game in the western USA with, including the suppressor if it were legal to use them.
For such a rifle I would still choose a Mauser to build on. I have fired more sub-MOA groups with my custom Mausers than I can count, and in my younger days I could get close to an MOA without a bench rest. Just resting over a pack or in a good prone.
So I have never seen the real world value in "speed locks" on anything but bench guns.
Again I say, I might use a "Mauser clone" too, like a new Ruger, Winchester, CZ or something like that....

That would go for any dangerous game rifle, as well as a Snipers Rifle. Heck, I feel the same way for any big game rifle, just because I can't see why I would take anything less, and pay more for it.

For target and varmint rifles, I would not care as much.
But that's just me------
"Your milage may vary".

It would be great if I had the money to design and make my own actions from scratch, but I don't.
"Non-controlled feed" extractors can be quite reliable too, but so far, we don't see them make on bolt actions like we see put on M-1 Garands, M-14s, FN-FALs and so on. Even if we did, I can't see that any of those extractors are any BETTER then a 98-Mauser type extractor. Some may be as reliable, but I doubt you could get MORE reliable then the Mauser system.

All my opinion, ----- given freely.
It may be worth what it cost you.

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