Last I heard Savage was still shut down due to Covid-19 and the C/S department is running with just a skeleton crew of six people alternating days with three on/three off.
As for the barrel to forend gap, have you done the paper test to verify if it's actually touching the stock? If it's not touching (barrel is free-floated) there's nothing to worry about. If it is touching one side or the other, try loosening the action screws a little, centering the barrel and retightening.
It's fairly common for plastic stocks to warp a bit in the forend as they cool after coming out of the mold. The GRS composite stocks are made using a fiber reinforced composite (likely nylon), meaning small loose strands of fiberglass are mixed in with the composite. This doesn't give it the rigidity of a true fiberglass stock constructed using several layers of fiberglass matting to form the outer shell. Fiber reinforced nylon is what most basic OEM synthetic stocks are made of.
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