Bedding thickness?

[EJG]

I would not want my gunsmith to bed my rifle with the metal pillar touching the receiver at all. The idea is a stress free bond between the stock and the receiver. Having a metal pillar touching the receiver concentrates the stress on the pillar rather than across the bedded surface. That's just my preference however

if you want a stress free bedding you will need to leave the action screws out.
As soon as you tighten action screws you create stress, the trick is to have most of this stress as compression stress around the action screw hole and less bending stress within the action. meaning you need the bedding to have the highest compression strength at the action screw hole.. hence pillars.
edi

 

[Buckmastr]

if you want a stress free bedding you will need to leave the action screws out.
As soon as you tighten action screws you create stress, the trick is to have most of this stress as compression stress around the action screw hole and less bending stress within the action. meaning you need the bedding to have the highest compression strength at the action screw hole.. hence pillars.
edi

A uniform bedding surface is not possible when the pillar touches the receiver.

 

[EJG]

A uniform bedding surface is not possible when the pillar touches the receiver.

Why not?
Often the pillar only contacts on a line the rest is contact with bedding material between the pillar and action. I will try take a picture of what I mean.
edi

 

[EJG]

In this case we are bedding a batch of S&L tactical stocks. Rear bottom side of the steel pillar which is bedded against the floor plate. The pillar is not 100% flat with the floor plate, one can see top left 1/3rd had contact the rest has a little film of bedding material between it. The bedding material in this case is stiffer, transfers vibration better and is stronger under compression than air.

Saying all that we recently bedded two Tikka rifles with our bedding rifle, meaning a different rifle than being used later, they came in 1st and 2nd in a PRS comp in England. Some things seem to matter when bedding others not so much.
edi

 

[bigbull]

Maybe you misunderstood. For example I just bedded a Barnard P action in a stock that was not made for this action. Rear action screw received an alu pillar, this pillar was coated ll round with bedding compound and the screw on to the action with the usual ~ 7nm torque. The pillar sits on the action with the applied pressure, any excess resin is pushed out and the pillar sits metal on metal with the exemption of the odd 45 micron alu particle trapped between or squashed. The advantage is that one has bedding compound where the pillar is not in full contact with the action. As I said a very good way would be to do some calculations about flex etc. I still think the outcome will show it is better to use bedding to fill the gaps.
edi

Your method is sound, having 100% contact between pillar and action is not always possible, having bedding compound instead of air is perfectly normal and preferred as long as there is contact between pillar and action as your pic shows.
BB