Thanks. It's a finicky beast alright. After free floating the barrel completely, I can usually get 2", 3-shot groups, but they are always in a vertical line. That barrel is just so whippy that any heat at all and it completely changes POI.

I was thinking about putting the barreled action in another stock anyway - to preserve that pretty full length walnut stock - so I bought a Hogue pillar bedded stock just to experiment with. Same results when free floated as the free-floated walnut full-length stock ( no real surprise ) but then I took a folded piece of neoprene that I cut from an old set of waders, and put it under the barrel, giving it some upward and side-to-side pressure inside the stock.

BAM! .75" group! LOL. All three holes were nearly touching. First time I have seen that from that particular gun.

I cut some pieces to length that could stay in that stock permanently if I want them to, then shot some more groups. Some were again in that 1" territory. I was playing with loads and bullets and seating depth, so I had a lot of variables to consider, but this weekend I'm going to try putting some neoprene shims under the end cap of that factory full length stock and see what happens. From what I can tell, it helps.

I'm not happy with that Hogue stock (love the feel but it's way too heavy) so I'm going to get a Ruger factory plastic stock and shim it, then see what happens. Shimming the walnut stock in any way doesn't make sense to me, since that wood is going to change POI with changes in the weather. But the plastic stock has a chance to hold zero, so it's worth a shot.