Quote: every time I read this being in doubt you can srew in the barrel by hand so much its tight enough.
The somewhat loose barrel to receiver joint did not matter much when barrel mounted iron sights only were used. It became a problem when scopes were mounted on the receiver, independent of the barrel, at least in part. To quote Rigby’s 1924 leaflet on their Mausers, on The “Take Down” Model: “We do not recommend this if a telescope sight is required.”.