It sounds like you could do one of 2 things...
1. This will be the cheapest route. Get a base model stevens rifle in a caliber of your choice. Can be ordered for under $300 @ wal mart. Get rifle ASAP, and shoot it. When you can afford decent optics(not $1000 optics, more like a lower end bushnell elite, Burris fullfield, etc.), do it. Then replace the stock. Aftermarket stocks for savage rifles are fairly cheap. If you want a true tacticool/target rifle you can rebarrel the rifle with a target contour barrel yourself with help from an internet walk through (trust me, it really is pretty easy). Voila, a capable long range target rifle (At least within, if not well under, 1 moa) for roughly 800 dollars probably.
2. Obtain an older mauser or mosin. Mausers have more accesories and options when you speak of re-barreling or re-chambering, and will probably be much cheaper in the long run. You can find yugo mausers @ jg sales for 180 dollars. Cheap surplus ammo can be found (340 rounds for 80 bucks at cheaperthandirt). This will require a professional gunsmith to rebarrel, however, and the process isn't quiet as simple as it is with the savage. The up-front cost of the mosin is a big plus, as you can find a rifle and 500 rounds of ammo for about 200 bucks. The big "if" at this point will be condition of the rifle since we're talking about surplus. Almost all Mosins will be a crap shoot in the accuracy department, depending entirely upon the bore. Some can shoot quiet well, and others not so much. Mosins will probably be less supported in the gunsmith and accessory world than a mauser. Mausers will be the same accuracy crap-shoot as a Mosin unless you go with a re-arsenaled brand such as a 24/47. They're less of a gamble because they were re-furbished by armorors, dipped in cosmoline, and have sat there until samco got a contract to import some a few years ago.
If you're wanting to compete at 1000 yards, by personal recommendation would be to get a Stevens or a Savage. It's a bit more up-front, but turing it into the final product will be SOOOO much cheaper and easier.
