Savage 12 FV DIY upgrades

[leemoe83]

I have a Savage 12 FV. Fairly accurate rifle, cheap, but it needs some changes. First off it is all out of balance, it is a pita to shoot offhand or any position that does not have the front rested on something. It has a 26" heavy barrel, chambered in .223 Remington, and the cheap plastic stock. The stock is pillar bedded. I would like to cut the barrel down to 20"-22" and bed the action (I really want to stiffen up the stock especially out towards the muzzle). So my question's are as follows;

1) Can I just remove the barrel from the action, chop it down close to finish length in a band saw, and then throw it in a lathe, finish the muzzle? When I crown the muzzle do I need a special piloted chamfer to finish it?

2) After finishing the barrel cut down do I just blue the end of the barrel?

3) Will using the brownell's acraglass gel stiffen up the front of the stock if I bed the entire thing, I would still free float the barrel, but I am wondering if the bedding material will stiffen the stock out at the forend?

4) Sometimes the rifle has feeding issues, as the round approaches or contacts the magazine feed ramp the bullet contacts the barrel off center of the chamber and gets stuck. Anybody else have this issue with Savage rifles? Anyone have a fix for this? Thanks for any help.