That's a simple and likely very effective solution to the bolt-spacing problem.
This has always been my one major beef with Savage rifles. For me, they've always functioned well and been very accurate, but over the years Savage has had so many variations in areas like single-stack vs. staggered-feed, top vs. bottom bolt release, bolt-spacing distance, small-shank vs large-shank barrels, round-top vs. flat-top receiver profiles, at least two magazine-release styles/locations, blah, blah, blah, that it just becomes a bit of a PITA when one looks for accessories, even if you are buying OEM stuff vs aftermarket.
Hell, they even went and changed the nomenclature of their actions, when they inexplicably stopped calling the short-action rifles by a 2-digit number and instead reverted to using the 3-digit ID for both short and long action.
Enough already! I'm not a Remington fanboy, but at least a short-action model 700...is a short-action model 700. You wanna buy an aftermarket stock for one, whether its brand-new or decades old, that's all you need to know. Much easier and better system.