Is applying bedding without aluminum pillars good enough?

[VaniB]

I was wondering if enough of you guys out there are shooting Remington 700's into sub 1/2" MOA or better groups without using pillars. (?)

Right now I'm shooting black factory Remington H&S stocks with the built-in factory aluminum blocks and I'm getting 1/4" to 3/8" MOA 5 shot groups. I have not put bedding in these HS stocks. I'm wondering if I can expect the same good accuracy putting these barreled actions into an old Remington 700 BDL wood stock as long as I apply a good glass bedding job into it. (but no pillars)

 

[BoydAllen]

No

 

[Steve Blair]

Boyd's answer is the poster child for brevity and correct, too. [br]
There is no way, in a wood stock, to get minimum stress and consistent force without using pillars.

 

[kelbro]

Depends on whether you are talking about a hunting stock or a competition stock.

Bedding alone would definitely help a factory 700 wood stock and if you're just talking one or two shots, you probably wouldn't notice the difference. In my experience, pillars alone work as well or better than bedding alone

Pillars are really easy on a 700 stock. If you are going to bed it, go ahead and add pillars. It only takes a little more time to do it right the first time.

 

[LCazador]

Using the composite Rem stock with aluminum bedding block , and then bedding should improve the shooting characteristics of the rifle . I haven't seen a rifle that didn't improve after proper bedding , pillars or not ! I agree that with proper pillar bedding a wood stock will improve greatly .

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I dont think you will have good luck doing that in a regular wood stock. With a laminate wood stock it works very well. I tested it in my light gun. I originally built it with no pillars, I tuned the gun and it shot very well, then I installed pillars and rebedded. It shot the same.

 

[CatShooter]

I dont think you will have good luck doing that in a regular wood stock. With a laminate wood stock it works very well. I tested it in my light gun. I originally built it with no pillars, I tuned the gun and it shot very well, then I installed pillars and rebedded. It shot the same.

That is my experence also - properly done, the results are the same... but not all smiths are capable of doing proper bedding.

I bought a rifle that had ~50 rounds threw it that shot 3"+ groups, and I paid the price of the action alone - it was bedded by an "expert" gunsmith.

When the bedding job was repaired, the rifle shot extremely well.

 

[VaniB]

I really didn't want to have to get involved with drilling the required straight and square holes into the stock to properly fit the pillars. While I have power tools, I'm not a gunsmith shop with special rifle vises and jigs. But, I mow understand the importance mentioned here on this thread about pillars, and will do it.

I have an old 1970's 40X remington target rifle stock stored away in my closet. It doesn't have pillars. I mistakenly concluded that if this old 40x stock did not have pillars from the Remington Custom Shop, then pillars probably are not necessary. I figured that surely Remington would have thought of installing two simple aluminum columns into the stock back then if they thought it was worthy. Well, now I realize that the methods were just simply lacking 40 years ago.....and a 1970's 40x stock (or a wood BDL stock) would do well with pillars installed in it today!

 

[Toby Bradshaw]

You don't need a fixture to drill the holes for the pillars. You can use a piloted counterbore and a cordless drill.

http://yarchive.net/gun/rifle/pillar_bedding.html

 

[fredhorace77]

tag

 

[kelbro]

The holes do not have to be perfectly centered. The epoxy and bedding will take care of that. Attaching the pillars to the action with the action screws centered is the key.

It really is a simple process. Scary the first time but simple.

 

[VaniB]

Toby, thank you for that link you provided. It is a treasure trove of information on the subject written by authors such as yourself and others who really have this down to a science.

Kelbro......Yep....... what you had just posted about my keeping the pillars in place and centered as being the key to the success, is something I was initially pondering over....and why it was easier to hope that I wouldn't need pillars. Now knowing the importance of pillars, I'll do less pondering and more pursueing it. What I have found through the years of using tools and devising ways of getting the desired finished results that I sought.....is that once I get started into a project, things follow a natural progression and get done very well enough. The initial apprehension and overthinking of a task was usually just that; apprehension and overthinking.

 

[Killshot]

This is a good how-to guide to do what you're asking. http://www.accurateshooter.com/technical-articles/stress-free-pillar-bedding/

I recently pillared and bedded an all-wood rimfire benchrest stock using this method and am going to do a thread on it soon, I'll be sure to PM you.

 

[J&J Custom Rifles]

Go to richards custom rifles website and buy his pillar bedding video, you want be disappointed. Great videos.

 

[s100whunter]

I used pillars at first,but not any more.With all bedding compond there is a small precentage of shrinkage so all that is touching the action is the pillars I still use pillars but run the compond on top of them. I believe using compond pillars is better then alumium

 

[antitactical]

I have some guns that were bedded with aluminum pillars and recently I just pour the pillars out of devcon. I see no difference. I drill out the 1/4" holes as big as I can and then open them more with a dremel. Sometimes its easier to do it in 2 stages. Bed the bottom metal and 3/4 of the action screw depth, let it dry and flip it and drill from the top down back into the devcon then refill the screw area with devcon and skim the action ( after taking out some of the action area wood) it works like a champ and now your entire bedding is mader of the same material so it will react to conditions the same. Aluminum shrinks and swells just not nearly as much as wood.