Well, re-fit attempt number 2 has met with failure. Restoring milsurps, as it turns out, is not one of my talents. After a few more mistakes it appears I have fubar'ed the new set of wood in that I used a commercial bleach that made it look terrible and screwed up whilst fitting it to the rifle. As a result, the barrel band is lose and moves side to side and up and down even when tightened down. New plan is to throw back on the wood that came with the rifle and get rid of it on the EEs.

Oh well, live and learn.