I'm in the industry, and perform formal, rigorous brand-comparison testing at least once a year. We test for accuracy, as well as examine the rifles for manufacturing defects, fit and finish flaws, etc. What I can tell you is that today, you'd have to search really hard to find a bad commercial < $2000 bolt-action rifle, and even then you still may come up empty-handed. Ruger, CZ, SAKO, Nosler, Tikka, Savage, Winchester, Remington, Browning, Weatherby, Thompson-Center, heck even the latest newcomers like Franchi: all good, all capable of tremendous accuracy and all feature-rich.
The main reason is that it's a nearly 150-year-old technology, and with the collective manufacturing experience as well as modern tolerance-control and steel-quality, there is no excuse for bringing a dud to market. What at the time of our grandfathers would have been possible only with a painstakingly-put-together custom piece at very high costs, today can be cranked out with a CNC machine for cents on the dollar. Another reason is that, about 15 years ago, Savage changed the rules of the market by bringing out a hyper-accurate rifle with a crisp adjustable trigger for a few hundred dollars. Suddenly, Bubba could walk out of Bass Pro with a $350 rifle/scope combo that likely shot as well or better than his more well-to-do friends' four-figure premium brand or semi-custom rifles. The bar was set: now no brand can afford to offer product of less quality, especially for more money.
Where you start getting substantial differences in performance (again, according to our frequent testing) is in the matchup between rifle brand and ammo type. We've found that each brand tends to be more accurate with certain ammo brand-weight combinations, and we test about 20 types of ammo for each brand. There are no ammo brands that perform superbly or badly across the rifle-brand spectrum--you just get some magical combination with a type of ammo that may perform very well with one brand and average or poorly with another.
So my advice is this. Research which features are important to you (e.g., looks, available calibers, push Vs. controlled-round feeding, stock type and material, location/type of safety, threaded/non threaded, etc.), settle on a specific model, buy it, then test it with as many brands and types of ammo you can (ditto for handloads). I guarantee you that with this admittedly somewhat tedious and expensive process, you'll end up with a tack-driver that will be the envy of all your shooting buddies.
