A friend of mine makes an action that might interest you. It will drop into any stock made for a Remington, takes Remington triggers, has a built in recoil lug that is positioned so that it fits like a stock Remington would, and the threads are small shank Savage. Bolt heads are interchangeable like a Savage, but his own make. His actions are available in short or long, magazine or single shot, and are well machined out of hardened stock. There are a couple of other options on port shape and tang thickness. The bolt release is above the stock line. They are not inexpensive, but for what you want to do, the design has several features to recommend it. You can change bolt heads, and any drop in barrel that is threaded and chambered for a small shank Savage can be installed by the owner, with a minimum of tools. I have fitted mine with a Jewel HVR trigger, and have a couple of bolt heads, a flat faced .308 size, that I use with a McGowan 6.5x47 barrel (installed with barrel nut) and a coned head for PPCs that I use in conjunction with a smith installed (without nut) 6PPC barrel. They both give good accounts of themselves. Currently I am using an old 40X prone stock that has pillars, but I plan to buy a new stock in the near future. Since I shoot left handed, my current action is a left bolt, right port, the .308 bolt head has an ejector, the PPC does not. With this action, I can fit barrels in virtually any caliber that I might be interested in, using drop in barrels from a variety of manufacturers, using a low torque barrel vise, barrel nut wrench, and a GO gauge. The name of the action is Bighorn, and they are made in Colorado by AJ Goddard. I suggest that you do a google search for Bighorn Arms. Of course this is only one of many options that would get you where you want to go. For your varminting, what distances do you typically shoot at? This could make some difference in your bullet weight selection, chamber design and rifling twist. For instance, the 6BR has seen a lot of use with light bullets, and slow twists, for varmints, and for longer distances with heavier bullets, in faster (1-8) twists, with longer throats.