westcliffe01
Well-Known Member
It certainly sounds like you had a condensation issue causing the rust in the bore. Now consider that the moisture could have had an influence on the stock. Are you sure the action is still properly bedded ? Action bedding has a very significant effect in the bigger calibers. On every gun I had major issues with, contact between the barrel and the fore end was always an issue. Worst when the contact only happened part time.
Did you have anyone else shoot the gun ? A set of fresh eyes may readily recognize things that you can't see yourself, because you have a certain picture in your mind of how this rifle was. The scope sounds highly suspect. Put on a decent scope which you can borrow from one of your other rifles and then check over all the basics thoroughly: Action screw tightness, how well the action is matching the stock, trigger pull/weight/overtravel, what kind of rest you are using and whether the barrel remains free floated when on the rest in shooting position etc.
Please do that before you potentially ruin your throat.
Did you have anyone else shoot the gun ? A set of fresh eyes may readily recognize things that you can't see yourself, because you have a certain picture in your mind of how this rifle was. The scope sounds highly suspect. Put on a decent scope which you can borrow from one of your other rifles and then check over all the basics thoroughly: Action screw tightness, how well the action is matching the stock, trigger pull/weight/overtravel, what kind of rest you are using and whether the barrel remains free floated when on the rest in shooting position etc.
Please do that before you potentially ruin your throat.