I replaced the old B&C stock on my semi-custom Mark X several years ago. The old stock was the one with the built in sling attachments. I put a B&C Medalist on it. When I did the job, I was sure everything was right.
Recently I've had this rifle shoot some nice, tight groups---with a load I no longer wish to use, wouldn't ya know...I'm re-purposing the rifle and going to a much lighter bullet. Load development has been frustrating, sometimes showing promise and other times stringing vertically several inches.
Just the other day I was replacing the old Mark X trigger with a Timney when I noticed that the front guard screw bottomed out abruptly as I was reassembling everything. Funny I hadn't noticed that before. The action was most definitely loose and not sitting in its bedding like it was supposed to. I don't know how it ever shot as well as it did at times after I put it in the new stock.
Moral of the story: don't dismiss anything, even if you "know" it couldn't possibly be the problem. I wouldn't continue changing barrels, though. But what do I know.
If it’s on the 4th barrel and still not shooting I would guess the problem is somewhere else. How’s the bedding?
