Bedding questions?

[rexxer]

I'm still thinking about trying to do my own bedding.I have quite a few questions that I hope a few of you can answer. I think I will go with a 1/2 " dia. pilliar for the 3rd and probably replace the front with 1/2 at the same time. I was thinking of opening these holes up to 5/8 so I would have a little room for my mud. Does this sound like the right amount?

The action pilliar,or trigger guard pilliar has to be a smaller dia and modified. Do you guys reuse the factory pilliar here or make new?

I will be installing a pacnor barrel,is anybody filling in the ramrod channel or adding a stiffner? Thanks Rex

[Richard]

Rex.........why would you replace any of the pillars Savage has installed?? Yes, 1/2" if fine for the third pillar. You are going to bed right over the top of the existing pillars so why replace them? My custom thumbhole stock already has an aluminum rod bedded in the forearm so I am not touching it. My "newer" Savage I got from KevinB and just put in a factory Savage thumbhole is getting led shot/fiberglass resin installed in the channel. It is curing as we speak I am also boring a bunch of holes in the butt and adding the same formula there. I should increase weight by about a pound. I now have 5 oz. in the forend.
Richard

[Deleted]

No replace ,just add.Is it a tupperware?

[youp50]

Replace them. I use new pillars. Brownell's recommends a 9/16 hole for a 1/2 pillar. 5/8 could be alright.

Get two bolts from you hardware, cut off the heads and use them as guide rods in the action. Bed the action. Drill out the factory pillars. Fit the new pillars to the action and the bolt heads. Fasten the new pillars to the action and use bedding compound to glue in the pillars. Your rifle now has a pillar bedding job with zero point zero plus or minus nothing tolerance. This tolerance is not possible from the factory.

[rexxer]

My stock is a lam. thumbhole. The reason I wanted to redo my pilliars is because I think they are not right. They sit below the wood on the action channel,I think this could be better.

[mike3132]

I use 9/16" bit for stock holes and use 1/2" OS and 1/4" IS stock to make my pillars. Mike

[Richard]

Rex.........When you bed the action, the bedding compound will take up the slight space between the pillar and your action. In the event you didn't know, when bedding first started (with the benchrest crowd) the pillars were all made from the bedding compound. You drilled a large hole and put a bolt up thru it (well coated with release agent) and let it set up. You now had "bedding" pillars. The bedding compound, for all practical purposes does not shrink and is "non-compressible!" In effect, you are just extending the height of your pillar. What you are trying to do with the pillars is keep from compressing any material (wood, tupperware, whatever) inbetween the action and bolt head. I can guarantee that your rifle will shoot no better with 9/16" or 3/4" pillars than with what Savage has put there (with the addition of your bedding material on top of them.
Richard

[rossman40]

Rexxer, IMO taking out the factory pillars is a waste. Unless the pillars are bad (I would have to look at the rifle to tell you) I would not replace them. The front pillar is an excellent mushroom head pillar and you can not find a better aftermarket unless you make it yourself. The rear pillar could be better but the rear pillar is a bit tricky to fit. You have two options, first you could go to Lowes or any hardware store and pick you up a piece of 1 1/4" wooden dowel and some sheets of 80, 120 and 220 grit. You will need to wrap enough sandpaper around the dowel to get just over the diameter of the receiver which is like 1.340". You want to work the area from the recoil lug to just to behind the rear pillar till your down to the pillars. After that you want to make sure the rear tang is still floated. Second, do the first and then just go ahead and bed the action. Take a Dremel tool and and take out the wood about 1/8'" below the pillars and around the receiver and behind the recoil lug, then bed the action with your choice of material (my favorite is Devcon putty).

What neck of the woods you in?

[chuck41]

When I converted to the 40 barrel I just bedded my tupperware stock and left the pillar blocks alone. Used JB weld and Johnson's paste floor wax for anti-seize. Worked great and shoots much improved over original. Filled the magazine hole with an oak block cut to size so I could add third pillar later if desired. Picture at: www.royalcs.com/pics/#savage
So far I have not found the original problem of a change of zero after I removed the bolt that I experienced before.

[rexxer]

Thank you guys for all the help!

Rossman-I live in Northwest Illinois!

I ordered devcon 10110 yesterday, this is my bedding material. I plan on using a bridgeport mill to remove 1/8 material between action and stock. I'm going to remove 1/4" material behind recoil lug.I also have access to hardinge lathe. I was going to make my front and third pilliar out of 1/2 ss.

The action pilliar would have to be smaller and modified to accept trigger. I would make this pilliar .010 long so it would bed the trigger guard in also.

I was thinking of using escutcheons on the bottom of the front and third pilliar. Bedding material would be used between the escutcheon and the pilliar that should create a totally stress free bedding . Bedding this way would put no load on bottom of stock when tightning screws.
I hope I'm explaining this so you can understand it!

If you guys think this is not a good idea I will look at keeping the stock pilliars. Using stock pilliars would be less work!

[mike3132]

I too wouldn't change pillars. The stock pillars are sufficient. I would leave them in and bed over them. When I make pillars or put in a third pillar i use aluminum or steel 1/2" stock with a 1/4" hole . Either has worked well. Mike

[Richard]

I'm in total agreement with Mike, Rex! You would be wasting your time and you would see no accuracy imporvement!
Richard

[youp50]

You may be correct in your observation of no improved accuracy.

What you stand to gain is a firearm that will not need a third pillar to avoid change in POI when loosening the screw to remove the bolt and you stand to gain a fire arm that is truly and correctly pillar bedded and is not torque sensitive when attaching the stock to action.