I am in the process of researching for a custom made SS  rifle. I have chosen a 45-70 for the caliber. I will be using the rifle for bench rest development (varying powders,bullets and various parameters) and informal target shooting/800yd so I will be striving for MOA  accuracy. The makers of these guns will offer different brands of barrels. From the forums,I get the impression that Badger bbls are excellent. I will be using predominantly lead bullets. I've been given a choice of Douglas,Shilen and one other. The other question is length. I prefer 28" to 30"  Opinion needed in this area too. I had hoped for a finished rifle of 9lbs  to 10lbs. Any insite you can offer me on these two factors will be greatly appreciated.Tnx  Erod

I've basically quit using Shilens. Douglas is a better buy IMO but of course still a mid- to low-priced barrel.

For Black Powder, IMO anything longer than 28"-30" will frequently cause extra fouling problems. That last few inches (over 28") of barrel reminds me of NASCAR racing at Darlington; the extra 100 mi in the Darlington 600 is like a whole 'nother/extra race and has been the downfall of many a 500-mi-point leader!

For Smokeless I dunno. But heavier is always better in the bigger bores.
Good luck, Joe

I will agree with the others in that a 9 - 10 lb. rifle is way to light, especially if you're gonna be doing quite a bit of bench shooting. I will assume your 800 yd. shooting will also be bench or cross sticks. I'd look at a rifle in the 12-14 lb. class and even heavier since you won't be lugging it around. When I was working with my .45/70 I'd shoot 25 to 30 rds. a day, five days a week. I appreciated the 13 lbs. that rifle weighed, and when working at the max. load level with 525 gr. bullets, I wished it weighed more.

  When working up my 12 lb. double rifle I regulated it for the 330 gr. Gould HP. To regulate it needed to be gotten up to a tad over 2000 fps. Believe me it was not a pleasant experience.

  For a barrel Badger's are very good but the last I heard you had to wait almost forever to get one. My Kreiger barrel came in a little under 12 weeks. Between that and Lilja, plus one or two other makers, you'll be getting as good a barrel as it's possible to make. You won't regret the extra money either!

  If you'll be shooting a lot of BP then barrel length becomes a factor. This is to be sure you get a complete burn. In the 100 gr. area a 32" to 34" barrel would be about right. I never thought of this till I had my .45/70 converted over to .50/90SS. The barrel maker.... Ron Snover..... put me wise to this. If you just plan on using the standard(?) 70 gr. of BP charge, or a little more, then a 30" barrel will be about right.

  If you'll be using smokeless mostly then a 30" barrel will be more than sufficient. The double rifle mentioned above has 28" barrels, but I only use it with smokeless.

PETE

Either of those calibers would be ok up to a point. If you plan on doing most of your shooting..... after load development...... at 500 yds. then I'd go with the .40/65. The .38/55 will work ok out to 500 yds., or 600 meters, as some Shilouette shooters will attest to. But the .40/65 would be better, altho I'm not sure how it would hold up at 800 yds..

  If you plan on doing most of your shooting at, say, 200 yds. or less then I'd highly recommend you rethink your choice and go with the .32/40. For Lead bullet shooting this is considered the best, if you wish to stick with traditional calibers.

  There is no such thing as the perfect rifle for all ranges. Recoil and it's attendant fatigue factor do not make for best accuracy. The .40/65 will be a better bet at 500 yds. than the .32/40. As the .32/40 will be better at 200 yds.

  If you will keep an eye on the match results in The Journal you'll soon see the truth in this. The bigger calibers can win but seldom do at the shorter ranges.

  So, it just comes down to what you want to do the most and go with the cal. most suited. I know this is not what you'd like to hear but I'd hate to see you spend money on a custom rifle and not be happy with it in the long term.

PETE

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Why not look to the new Pedersoli Highwall 38/55 with fast twist 1:12" barrel. This should shoot the long 335gn 38's to 800yards with low recoil.

Erod,  I chuckled when I read your title, "Experienced Advice Needed."  You opened yourself up to so much advice that you won't know which direction to go.  Seems like there's plenty of advise and the way this forum is going lately with all the "contrarians", and me feeling a little bit gnarly today I thought I might as well get in too.  
First, you can be the best judge of what you want.  By that I mean, let the winners circle tell you.  Get some past issues of BPCN or ASSRJ and look at what's winning.  Example,  When somebody tells you that this barrel is better than another, it's a crock in my book.  I went back in some BPCN magazines and looked at what is winning in some different events throughout the country and here's what I found.  In one Pennsylavania shoot, the first two places where Pedersolis, 3rd a Grn Mtn and fourth a Getz.  Of the first 10 places, 4 where Badgers 2 Gn Mtns, 2 Ped, 1 Getz and one Shiloh.  In another Pennsylvannia shoot, 1st place was a Snover, next 8 of nine where Badgers.  8 were 45 cal. and 2 where 40's.  At a Michigan mid-range shoot, 4 out of the first five where Badgers and one Shiloh.
At another shoot in Avenal California, 1st was a Shiloh, 2nd a Badger and 3rd a Douglas.  Of the next 7 places, 4 were Badgers, 2 Grn Mtn and 1 Shiloh.  Of those top 10, 8 where 45's, 1 a 44 and 1 a 40 cal.  These are just some I quickly gleaned so for somebody to say that one barrel is better, I say take it with a grain of salt.  
Here's more examples of advice that one gets on the internet.  When I first started shooting, nobody could get PP to work and now it seems to be the bee's knees.  Same with the wiping technique.  Nobody could get consistency and now all of a sudden, it's back and many are doing well with it.
Barrel length is another issue.  Everybody has an idea.  Long, short, fat and stubby.  I know that I have barrels from 30" - 34" and I have yet to experience fouling at the end of the bore in any of them even though I was told never to go over 30".  Maybe its a western USA phenomena.    
Don't start chasing your tail over what others are doing.   You be your own best judge and build what you want.  Build it around the discipline that you want it for because this sport is contagious and before long you'll want another.  Watch what the consistant winners are shooting and I can say that I have observed this with regularity; 45's rule and the heavier rifle the better it is.  Also, you don't see the mini's with fast twists near the top very often but I do see more of them coming up for sale.  Oh, yeah, good shooters just don't sell their tack drivers.    Have fun!  Bob