No offense, but that bedding looks terrible. As I imagine most of our first bedding jobs do...
Hard saying whether the bedding job is at fault, but I wouldn't rule it out when it looks like that. If it were me, I'd dig all that epoxy out with a Dremel, watch a few more YouTube videos, and try again. Don't be shy with the epoxy, either. It looks like you could almost double what you used last time. That'll take care of the big voids along the edges.
I highly doubt it's a barrel issue. And if the bedding is right, screw torque shouldn't be all that critical.
No offense taken. I was definitely more concerned about using too much than too little. I'll give it another go to see if that helps. For clarity, when you mention voids along the edges, are you saying that it should come further up the stock/action near the recoil lug?
