ORIGINAL: oldsmellhound

Thanks for all the replies.

To answer a few questions - I'm not interested in spending money on bedding the action. It's a $100 rifle, and I don't really want to spend much money on it. I'm free floating the barrel to (hopefully) increase the accuracy by relieving any points where the stock is putting pressure on the barrel forward of the lugs.

I decided to just file away the points on the stock that were forward of the action and touching the barrel. Since I'm not messing with how the action is bedded, I don't see how this could screw anything up. Worst-case scenario is that I mar a cheap-o synthetic stock, which I'm not worried about.

Maybe it will help, maybe it won't. I won't make it to the range to try it out for a few weeks, but I'll make sure to post a range report when I do. The way I see it- I've only been able to consistently shoot 4" groups at 100 yards, which I'm not happy with. Even if it doesn't make much of a difference, at least it's a try. I finished the filing job - I can slide a piece of paper up to the first lug now - the barrel isn't touching the stock up until that point.

Thanks again for all the advice!