Stuck at home too much this year is putting a dent in my backlog. Up next is a Gibbs repro 1903a4. The stock has a CMPicon cartouche. The rifle shoots just fine - pretty good as is, ~1.25" at 100yds. But,
1) Under the front band, the hole for the screw was mis-drilled (even nicked the barrel), and then just opened up to fix it. Now it looks like it was dug out with a spoon.
Attachment 112279Attachment 112280
The band is very tight - takes a nylon punch and love taps to get it on and off. However, the required small gap between the top and the barrel is there.
I have debated on how to clean it up. I've thought about drilling it out, gluing in a dowel, and redialing the hole, or filling it with epoxy, or sawdust+glue like you would any other application.
2) The stock is fat. The forearm sticks out well proud of the handgaurd, and the barrel bands need driven on/off with nylon love taps. It is also fat in the other direction, the walls of the barrel channel are high. When the action is screwed in, the the handgaurd base ring sits so low that there is stress on the base of the handgaurd.
Attachment 112281
The tight fit on the front band (covering the botched hole) is due to the high wall as well. So, if I fix the outside profile, I'll need that screw hole snug as the band is likely to fit normally when I'm done.
3) lastly, it's fat in it's magazine to action fit - way to big a gap between the magazine and the receiver. The follower easily gets stuck at the top, causing the last round feed difficult if at all, and loading the magazine takes a delicate balancing act.

I plan to attack one thing at a time - advice for fixing that hole first?
After that, I'll carefully check the bedding before I start releiving material at the trigger guard to bring the magazine up. Next I'll follow Chucks advice on trimming the tang bushing 1/8" to improve metal-wood contact. Lastly, I'll lightly sand down the outside, and relieve the upper surface of the forearm. Still debating wether to inlet the hand guard for the little clips, but that is mutually exclusive from anything else.
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