Have a rifle with a wood stock, barrel is touching the stock on the left side..

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I recently got a rifle, it's supposed to be brand new, and as far as I can tell it's unused.

The barrel is touching the wood stock on the left side, even though it's supposed to have a free floating barrel.

It looks to me that the wood stock has a slight manufacturing defect. No biggie - I can just file it down a little.

My question is: is it common for wood stocks to not be perfect like this, or is it more likely that my barrel is not mounted properly? As far as I can see the barrel seems fine and joined properly to the receiver. Any way to check the barrel other than eyeballing it? I'm not concerned about the wood stock, I am concerned that the problem might be the barrel. I haven't taken it to the range to sight it in yet, as I'm waiting for a few other rifles to be ready so I can sight them all together.

Thanks!
 
Most likely the stock warped a bit after manufacture or the rifle is now in a far different climate ( humidity) than before. Many rifles are not sealed well under the action and barrel which allows the wood to move. I had a Ruger with a forend that moved so much it could not be relied upon to hold its zero even after it was relieved more than a 1/16" on each side.
 
No problem... 5/8 or 3/4" dowel and 120 then 200 grit sandpaper, and then at least three coats of lacquer (or Tru-Oil) sealer... you're off to the races...
 
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Its very common for the stocks to warp, probably sometime between the time it was assembled and the customer gets it. Sometimes I wonder if the fore-end pressure bedded stocks are just to hide the warpage.

A quick way to even out the gap is to run a strip of emery cloth around the barrel and shoe-shine your way from one end to the other. Abrasive to the wood side of course.
 
It's not that uncommon for wood stocks to be in that condition. Like a few others have said here it could be because the humidity level in the wood has changed a little too much since it was inleted or maybe the action mounting screws are not dead center to the total length of the stock. if it's the second thing I'm suggesting you might be able to shim it over and glass bed the action as part of a permanent solution. I'm not a 100 percent sure but you may be able to tell if that's the problem by removing the barrel action from the stock then using a small diameter string or thread, run the string top dead center over the action screw holes all the way down to the end of the barrel Channel if it's way off center at the end of the barrel Channel it's likely poor inletting tolerances in the action screw mounting holes more so then the stock warping or worse it could be a combination of both factors. Sometimes messing with them just isn't worth the headache if you can buy a nice laminated stock from Boyd's or one of the others. Good luck with your rig
 
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