I had a 99 stock split sitting in the safe.
So much for all the theories.
Then somebody overtightened the stock bolt and the wood sat there under compression until it finally gave.
And if the rifle would have had the pillar bedding as pictured above, it would not have happened at all.
From the resident 24-hour campfire gunsmith that does this mod: "Replacing the factory bolt (where a washer bears against a 'shelf' in the butt stock) with a substantial aluminum pillar and cap screw...and bedding the rear of the action against the pillar...is a very worthwhile modification to these guns. The solid pillar/bedding at the back eliminates the beating that the upper tang gives the stock, which leads to the cracking that's so common on these guns. On this one, I gave it .015 of clearance around the periphery of the tang.
With some additional work on the fore end, pillar bedding turned this 250-3000 'stringer' into a 'shooter' with nice round groups and eliminated the 1st round flyer that went close to 2" out."
