I recently bought a savage model 111 in 30-06, lefthand bolt, from a local owner. The gun seems practically new, in excellent condition, with a 'hardwood' (cheap) stock. I noticed a slight vibration/resonance in stock and thought it needed some adjustment of the forearm and trigger guard screws.

Both were fairly loose, so I tightened reasonably (although I'm not sure how tight they should be). With both screws tight, the bolt became very stiff. So, I backed off a little, and it functioned normally again. The barrel appears to be properly free floated, so, next, I removed the stock to look at the bedding.

I was kind of surprised to find that there doesn't appear to be any indications of pressure at the two bearing locations. The wood is fairly soft (compared to walnut, etc), and I expected to find indentations or signs of compression, etc. Is this normal?

This makes me think the forward lug might not be making proper contact with the stock, especially since the bolt action stiffened up when I tighten the forearm screw. Can you insert a metal shim to ensure proper contact?

Or is the solution simply to upgrade to decent stock? I'd be interested in your thoughts.