I have a M96 that's not fitting into the stock properly. The barreled action fits fine into the top inletting but when I tighten the front guard screw first the rear of the guard is about 0.06 off the inletting. I can tighten it down but it bends the assembly a bit, it comes back up when I loosen it.

What the proper fit of the magazine well to the underside of the receiver, should they touch or should there be clearance? I can take care of the badly fitting guard with bedding but I'd like to know what I should be aiming for.

Would stress on the guard affect accuracy?

With a 98 there is a gap.

gapped - if touching, it will not be consistent

Rob, it's also possible that your front screw housing tube is slightly misaligned. Might be a good idea to take the barreled action out of the stock and check the alignment to see if the gap remains consistent front-to-back as the front screw is engaged and tightened. This is the condition that first prompted me to begin using pillar bedding back in the late '60s, Mausers & Springfields are famous for this. I always cut off the screw housing flush and fab a pillar to be epoxied into the stock (another for the rear also, of course). The mag-to-receiver gap should be about 1/16" or less and, with the assembly removed from the stock, the gap can be easily adjusted before epoxying the pillars. You must ensure that there are no high spots in the inletting, of course, before epoxying. I use aluminum for the pillars, and drill 1/4" holes to fit the guard screws closely. After the epoxy has cured, I then drill out the pillars very slightly for screw shaft clearance for better accuracy. Call me for details if wanted, good luck!
Regards, Joe

J.D. Steele, I have a tip. When using factory made pillars or your own with the larger holes drilled for clearance, I just wrap the inletting guide screws with Brownell's bedding tape to get that snug fit for alinement and when its cured, it already has the clearance with no additional drilling required.

AG1, I appreciate the tip, that's what makes this site so good! I've done it sorta that way in the past but now, instead of the guide screws, I use the regular guard screws and really cinch them down tight against the pillars. Sometimes I found that they were difficult to remove later and I still sometimes had to run a drill bit down the holes to remove the remains of the tape and epoxy, so I figured why not just leave the tape off and drill 'em all?

As a side note, this system makes it super-easy to attain initial screw-slot alignment with full tension and to maintain both alignment and tension throughout the life of the rifle!
Regards, Joe