mcmillan stocks are advertised as drop in ready, my question is, how many have had good luck with them unbedded, and is pillars and or glass bedding really worth it on these

I have three McMillan stocks and all of them are pillar bedded.

They make the best synthetic stocks, in my opinion, but as good as they are there is no way that a stock can be made that will properly fit all barreled receivers out there.

I guess it depends on what you consider important, and I’m sure you will hear that old AR standby answer of “it’s only a hunting rifle and it doesn’t matter†from some people.

Just my opinion, but if a guy is going to spend the bucks for a McMillan stock why not spend a few more and bed it so it fits your barreled receiver and bottom metal perfectly?

quote:

Originally posted by cummins cowboy:
mcmillan stocks are advertised as drop in ready, my question is, how many have had good luck with them unbedded, and is pillars and or glass bedding really worth it on these

I prefer wood....but had a McMillan on a 300 Mag and never bedded it....if I ever get another McMillan stock I'll glass bed it as I just think there is no such thing as a drop in! It just means you don't have to remove a lot of material to get it to fit in....but that don't mean it "fits" the action.

My McMillans are all pillar bedded. But I am not sure that they really needed it. I would never use a "drop in" fit on any stock. I would most definately glass bed the action and free float the barrel with a McMillan just to give the perfect fit between action and stock.

The whole concept of pillar bedding was to basically remove the action from any warpage, changes or shifting in a stock. They are also used to keep stock compression from happening when the action screws are cranked down. The material McMillan uses is as stable as anything you will ever find and if you can compress it with your action screws then you are coming close to stripping screw and action threads if not worse.

so as it stands now I think I will have the stock glass bedded or should I say a light skim bedding and thats it, I do want all the accuracy I can get and yes I want way more than hunting accuracy, is there any flaws in my thinking??

To get good accuracy from my Rem 700 30-06 I had to glass bed the recoil lug area and add a pressure pad at the the tip of the forearm.

To help insure a consistent POI and an action that doesn't twist or flex when the screws are tightened, ALL stocks should be glass bedded.

My McMillan Sako AII Varmint was not quite a drop in, the recoil lug recess was not deep enough and had to be hogged out. I found that once you broke through the black skin the whitish material below was very soft and easy to remove.

I bedded it around the recoil lug and the tang and the setup (22-250) is shooting very well - 0.5MOA. I will buy again for my 222.