Also check the bedding of the rifle. The barrel shouldn't touch the stock except for the first inch or two infront of the recoil lug and the last inch or so at the end of the stock. The barrel should not contact the handguard at all. If the barrel touches anywhere else, take a piece of sandpaper and wrap it around a dowel to remove a bit of wood.

The front barrel band should not touch the barrel at all- there should be a slight gap between it and the barrel on the top half of the barrel.

When you put the barreled action in the stock, tighten both action screws to snug it down lightly, then tighten the front screw tight followed by the rear screw just beyond snug. If the screws have a small lock screw next to them, just tighten the big screws as far as possible that will still allow the lock screw to fit in the grooves of the bigger screws.


Triggers- a good gunsmith can work over a mauser trigger to be very sweet for less than the cost of a timney- and you won't have to modify a thing. I would keep it a two stage with a heaveier 1st stage take up and a very light 2nd stage- you get the best of both worlds with a 2 stage trigger- a heavier safe trigger combined with a light crisp release, if its done right.

The barrel wear in problem does have alot of merit to it. Some of my rifles that have very new bores don't shoot as good as rifles that have very dark and worn bores, but they will improve over time- part of hte equation might be shooting 100 rounds or so through the rifle just to get the feel for the rifle as well.