Cathntr, I also have a 16FSS Savage in a .204 with much the same problem as has been presented. The composite stock is extremely flexible and I tend to shoot in the field with the carry sling for support (way I was taught as a kid)...and the stock was miserable..
I contacted Savage and acquired a wood stock from a model 10 and it worked great to stiffen up the whole rifle, but added more weight than I wanted to carry around...
I cut out the channel under the barrel, installed a couple of fiberglass arrow shafts, and epoxied them in...then relieved the barrel channel where it's quite a ways from the barrel... The barrel will still distort if I'm shooting a lot of rapid fire (rarely), but the first few shots are really tightly grouped, and the pressure from my sling doesn't seem to affect the stock now..
