Trigger group status while storing the rifle?

[Griff Murphey]

I think the difference here is that the match accurization of most of those guns involved using fixtures during glassing that resulted in serious downward pressure on the forend. The Air Force armorers were famous for making the M-1's so tight you had to use all of your body weight to close them. I know with the M-14 types a lot of home-made jobs were done using GI socks to hold the stock in a downward attitude. Wood can certainly warp, under pressure, over time. Whether you agree or not, it is a fact that the military did store a lot of match guns with the TG's "popped" and I can promise you that the old-time armorers in the 60's-70's certainly recommended it. I'd say: "Do what you want to do." I will say that the "match" 7.62 M-1 I stored popped for 25 years seems to possibly be the most accurate M-1 I have, FWIW.