Gentleman,

Is the idea with pillar bedding to have full metal contact between the top of the pillar and the bottom of the receiver / tang. Or, is it ok to have a thin layer of epoxy between the two surfaces?

I understand that you bed the pillars first and then bed the action. However, if you do this then what is stopping the epoxy to flow between the top of the pillar and the underside of the receiver & tang?

Michael.

The idea of pillar bedding is to have a positive platform for the action to sit on and to decrease the possibility of crushing the material between the bottom metal and the action.

Personally, I pillar bed the action and pillars at the same time.

Thanks Jim,

Hmmm, seems to be alot of conjecture on this.

Darrel Holland does exactly as you do and with his years of experience thats a no brainer. However another website says that for stress free bedding, bed the pillars first, then do the actual bedding itself. My only concern is bedding material flowing up between the pillars and the bottom of the action, when you place the action in the stock, which is why I'm thinking of doing it all together in one hit. If the bedding material is like peanut butter (Devcon) and not super runny, does this make a difference? (I'm planning on using the Devcon Titanium epoxy when I bed my Kimber and later on my 416 RM custom job)

The reason this other company says you should bed the pillars first, then the barrelled action is to prevent a high spot in the stock from putting stress on the receiver. However, If you've relieved enough stock material out, then surely you are not going to have any high spots?

I do the same as Jim suggests but I have seen some good benchrest guys glass the gun first then glass in overly long pillars, then chuck the stock up in the Mill or drill press for that matter and cut the pillers, both top and bottom to the glassed surface..Seemed to work real well, and really made a neat looking job out of it..I intend to give it a try at some point.

I epoxy the pillars in first then use Devcon 10110 as my bedding compound. When bedding a round action it is impossible to mill the pillars for a perfect fit. Devcon 10110 is about as strong as aluminum in compression and makes a near perfect fit with the action. I have had great success with this approach....Tom

I like to set my half depth levels and bed the pillars screwed to the action. Then the pillars become my level stops. Machine relief around the pillars for good flow and machine the underside pillars to set the bottom metal levels. Tightening the guard screws during the final bed will hydraulically move the bedding compound off of the aluminum.

Brian

Good one! and a good description of what I also do.

Thanks