Custodian hunt - who are you guys using and why?

• •Alright, so I’m finally getting serious about rolling over a significant chunk of my old 401k from my steel days into a Gold IRA.
• •I’ve been sitting on this for a bit too long, but with everything going on, just feel it’s the right move to diversify.
• •I’m looking at moving about $300k, maybe a bit more depending on how the market shakes out over the next few weeks.

Alright, so I’m finally getting serious about rolling over a significant chunk of my old 401k from my steel days into a Gold IRA. I’ve been sitting on this for a bit too long, but with everything going on, just feel it’s the right move to diversify. I’m looking at moving about $300k, maybe a bit more depending on how the market shakes out over the next few weeks. I’ve done my homework on precious metals themselves – spent decades in commodities, so I get the value proposition of gold pretty intimately. What I’m less familiar with is the whole custodian side for these self-directed IRAs.

I’ve been poking around online, reading reviews, and honestly, it’s a bit overwhelming. Some of these custodians seem to have crazy high fees, others have really mixed reviews on customer service. I'm down here in Birmingham, and while I don’t expect to be in and out of the vault every week, I want to know my assets are secure and that if I need to talk to someone, it won’t be a nightmare. Anyone have specific recommendations or horror stories they can share? I'm particularly interested in custodians that are transparent about their fee structure and have a good track record with precious metals specifically, not just general self-directed IRAs.

Also, how many of you guys actually used one of those eligibility checkers? I ran my info through the Eligibility Checker at https://eligibility.goldirablueprint.com/, and it said I'm good to go, which was a relief. But it doesn't give you much insight into custodian quality. It just tells you if you qualify. So now it's all about finding the right partner. Is there anything specific I should be looking out for beyond fees and general reputation?

Any insights, positive or negative, would be appreciated. This is a big move for me, and I want to make sure I get it right the first time. Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences!