Here is the reply I got from McGowen, and it doesn't leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

From: Dan J Wynne
To: Products@Savage-Barrels.com
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2011 8:00 AM
Subject: Re: Barrel Problems


Here is what I tell them when I get these problems. McGowen cuts their threads to the high side of the thread tolerance. The reason that they do this is because we have to make barrels not only for new actions, but older ones also. This ensures that the threads are not sloppy. The easiest fix is to take some emory cloth and wrap around the threads and take the high side of the threads off. Just wrap the sandpaper around the threads and roll the barrel back and forth with even pressure. This will take the threads down at the peaks. Do this for a few minutes, try it on the receiver and then if it doesn't fit do it again until they fit.

Dan