What you have is a Whitworth Express Mauser...

I disagree with your smith, big bores like that need to be glass bedded, cross bolted, and have that all important second barrel lug...or you will split the stock out sooner or later, regardless of how well its bedded, it will pound a gap and split the stock at least 85% of the time would be my guess. Without the second lug make that 99% of the time.

Someone wanted to releive the barrel channel and started cutting wood off each side of the barrel channal, WRONG, the way to do that is see what pressure is bareing on the side of the tang that makes to gun sit slanted in its mortise...and that still needs to be done with your gun to take all the stress off the action, then fill that big gap on each side of the barrel channal with glass, thats about all you can do in your case short of re stocking..

Sounds like to me you got a great deal, and its easily repairable, but get yourself a smith that works with big bores..Many smiths never work with big bores and they try to apply regular rifle practices to them, such as your smith is doing IMO....Not good.