A New K31 and a Couple of Questions...(Pic heavy)

[concretus]

I treated myself with some of my tax return... I picked this up friday on Gunbroker from an outfit in South Carolina. The guy was spot on with the description; the metal was 90-95%, The bore was like a mirror, there was some nicks on the outer edge of the muzzle so a buddy gunsmith of mine put a new crown on it. The serial number denotes a 1953 manufacture year so it has a beech stock. the condition of the stock was a little rough so I worked on it a bit. I never had a rifle w/ a beech stock before so I was stocked to see the grain and character come out... Guisan said the rifles were finished w/ shellac so that's what i finished it with....It also has the tag.
I had to paint the house this weekend so it won't be till next weekend before I can take her out for a run.....I noticed that the barrel is free floating up to the front of the stock except where the stock and the handguard both touch the barrel. Should the handguard not touch the barrel at all? Is the area where the stock touches the barrel give any upward pressure to the barrel? Should the barrel be free floating all the way?

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[Latigo]

Someone stained that rifle before you got it.

[diopter]

As in most military rifles, there should be upwards pressure at the stock tip, otherwise long range accuracy goes down the toilet. Had to fix a couple where some people rasped out the lower barrel tip channel causing horrible accuracy at 300m.
If it's not broken, don't try to fix it.
Shoot it first, ask questions later, if needed.