What is involved in pillar bedding a 700 VLS into its stock. The smith wants $185 to do it. Is it difficult to do or some trick to it. And whose pillars would you use.
I have pillar bedded several 700 actions. I used Parrish pillars from Brownells. These pillars are already ground to the action contour. I used a 9/16" piloted drill bit to enlarge the holes in the stock. I shimmed the action out of the stock about 1/16". This left the action actually floating. The parrish pillars have an instruction guide with them, telling you how much to cut off the bottom of the pillars. Care must be taked here. After I drilled out the stock and cut the pillars to length, I fastened the pillars to the action with the action screws. Then fill the holes in the stock and the pillars with epoxy. Drop the action with the pillars installed into the stock, with the shims installed. I weighted the action down and let the epoxy dry. A neat trick that I use is to install the bases and rings to the action. Then I loosely install my scope lapping rod and put a bag of lead shot on the rod. This weights the action down without stressing it. After the mix dries I bed the action. Installing the pillars this way lets you use the action screws to tighten down the action when final bedding is done. This avoids any stressing of the action. Don't forget to use release agent on the very bottom of the pillars and on the heads of the action screws. Some people don't bed the action they just install the pillars. They believe that pillars is enough, I don't. Bedding the action guarantees that no shifting will take place. If the gun has a heavy bbl I bed out 2" under the bbl.
If you have never beded a rifle before, you may wish to get with someone who has experience in this area before attempting this yourself. Pick up one of many books on the market that will talk you through the process if nothing else. I have placed many barreled actions in the freezer overnight in order to remove stuck actions because someone with little or no experience, failed to properly prep the weapon for the epoxy. Whatever you do, take it slow and pay attention to everything. Good luck!
