I have a small gap between the barrel and the lock on my Southern Mountain Rifle. How concerned should I be?
The lock bolster should sit fully up against the barrel, so the fix is to find what is holding it back. Apply a thin layer of transfer color to the back of the lock plate, install it, tap it in, and look carefully at the transfer marks to identify only the specific area that needs to be relieved, rather than removing wood everywhere the color shows.