Making a bolt action is NOT as hard as people make it out to be. However, it does require some very specialized (or expensive) equipment OR a great deal of creativity :-)
The pictures below are from a prototype I designed and built earlier this year. It is a .50BMG single shot bolt action. This project was done on an old Southbend lathe, a Bridgeport that I bought for $70 and CnC controlled and a sinker EDM I bought at an auction for $1K. Conventional wisdom will tell you that I can NOT do what I did with the equipment I did it with. And some times conventional wisdom is wrong :-) The lugways could be done without the EDM by making a broach (or 3 depending on what you have available to you).
In order the pictures are:
1) The start of the bolt minor diameter (1.003") hole through the action.
2) With the bolt hole completed the action was relieved for the bolt to turn into place and threaded for the barrel.
3) The electrode for the EDM to do the lugways.
4) a picture of the back of the action showing the final result.
At the bottom is a link to the video of the first test firings of the prototype.
I am in the process of turning out a couple "finished" actions now.
BMGrangeday - YouTube
Creativity is the key. If you want to do it it is possible to make your own.