Wood Bending

[Curly]

Need help fixing bent wood.    I had the finish stripped off of my m70 by a local antique restoration company.   They placed the stock in a tank of chemical stripper, and it came out  beautiful.     1st problem was that the stripper dissolved most of the epoxy bedding.   I cleaned it out, and had a local gunsmith rebed.   It looked great.   When I finally completed the oil finish, and put the gun together, the barrel is resting tightly against the right side barrel channel of the wood.    Is there a way to get the wood bent back a little.    Possibly with spacers, etc?     The rest of the gun sits perfectly centered visually.    There is a minimal gap on the open side.     Any help would be appreciated.   I hate to think I just ruined a beautiful piece of wood.     Thanks,     Curly

[gunnut69]

How mcuh pressure is the wood exerting?  If it's fairly light it's easy to simply remove a few shavings to relieve the wood to metal contact. Check by pressing the barrel away from the offending side with one hand. If there's too much pressure the gap on the free side may widen as the pressure is released on the side that's touching.  It is really not feasable to bend a stock to set the forearm pressure on a barrel. It probably should have been addressed by the snmith doing the bedding. Wood is simply not a static material. Moisture, heat, cold, etc. will make it move.. Relieve the barrel channel on the side that's in contact and be certain to apply water proofing to the bare wood as moisture can easily nter and move the stock around again. Just remember a little at a time and no more than necessary..