As the old builders will tell you a bowed plate is not uncommon, And when I built mine I put a straight edge to everything and found that most parts where somewhere out of spec. Now build that gun with one bent part no biggie but build a gun with several bent parts and you magnafied the problem. When I finished my build I have no binding and the action is so smooth that I can run the gun with a 30-06 booster with the 308 barrel. Next time I will try it without the booster and only the bearing.
My plate was only bowed about a 1/8 of a inch but the 4130 plate was so tough that I had it flexing over a inch between to supports on my press to get it straight, I was amazed and can't remember if I took pics of it. If you can afford the $120 price tag then get a press of at least 12 tons and you will be amazed how often you will use it. Also straighten everything before you put together and don't rely on other parts and rivets to pull it together as I believe that you will only end up with bolt binding and other problems in the end. Just remember when these guns were first built they did not assemble them with bent parts.
My plate was only bowed about a 1/8 of a inch but the 4130 plate was so tough that I had it flexing over a inch between to supports on my press to get it straight, I was amazed and can't remember if I took pics of it. If you can afford the $120 price tag then get a press of at least 12 tons and you will be amazed how often you will use it. Also straighten everything before you put together and don't rely on other parts and rivets to pull it together as I believe that you will only end up with bolt binding and other problems in the end. Just remember when these guns were first built they did not assemble them with bent parts.
