That's what I thought from reading your prior posts on the matter, BillPa; thanks. I was reading a thread wherein Sharpshooter used the word "most" when referring to how the design guys wanted the bolts assembled the way mine is, but a communication gap caused "most" of them to leave the factory the way everyone else's is (i.e. with the bolt & baffle touching each other). Anyway, like I said, this bolt has most definitely not been taken apart since Savage put it together a couple evenings before the bankruptcy. :D

Any reason I can't swap the baffles between this long action and my FP short action? Just to get the bolt travel on each of them more how I want it? If I do swap, should I re-assemble the long action's bolt/washer/baffle the way it is now, or put it together the way Savage assembles all the rest of their guns?