Gunsmiths, please advise: build question

joe.grey

joe.grey

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South East Ontario
I bought a rifle for competitive/practical shooting. Bought from a reputable builder that I will not name for the moment. Please advise:
I took the rifle appart to check on the work done with bedding. The stock is a McMillan A5. When I took out the bottom metal, I noticed that a washer was used as a shim between the bottom metal and the rear pillar. Is that normal ? I also added a photo of the front pillar bedding job.
What are your professional thoughts on this?







 
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I don't see a big problem with it in principle. Does all the components fit properly(no gaps at the tang, cocked in relation to the stock, etc?
That is likely to happen with various actions with various stock and bottom metal configuations and various bottom metal OEM dimensions.
If the stock/bedding/bottom metal/tang fits properly it should be no issue IMO if I understand your post correctly.

Disclaimer...I do my own firearms work however I don't consider myself a gunsmith.
 
GreenBob said:
Does it shot accurately?
Click to expand...

The accuracy of the rifle is not consistent and I am not a novice shooter, have been shooting for 20 years so I have a pretty good understanding of basic marksmanship skills. I can call my mistakes and it happens often that the rifle is inconsistent without an issue in technique.
 
Tell us more about the rifle. What action? Did the stock come with machined pillars? Or were they added?

Does the rear pillar actually contact the receiver and is it radius cut?

Hard to troubleshoot without some detailed info.
 
The pillars are short for the bottom metal you had installed unless you supplied the pillars for the smith to work with. Shims were used to extend the mag assembly for proper functioning.
That's why I always leave them a little longer then mill them afterwards followed by bedding the mag assembly in for a perfect fit.
 
I wouldn't be to happy about it, seems sloppy with washers. When I had my lathe and mill it only took a few mins to make up a couple of pillars that could be quickly milled down so the bottom metal fit perfectly after bedding no washers required. Can't comment on the bedding job since the pic isn't clear enough on my phone.
I am no professional gunsmith though so my opinion is not worth much.
I do miss having the machinery, took a barreled action in to be shortened 2" and re-crowned at the local smiths. Cost $150 (didn't get a quote first) and my 18month old could have done a better job with a butter knife. So now it needs to be redone elsewhere.
 
I am normally the last guy to go and say this but.... I would not be happy with that work. I am no professional but I am capable of doing a nicer bedding job in my garage. A little more time should have been taken to get everything lined up nicely.
 
I have factory Remington's that come with that washer . I put one in a B&C stock without the washer and found it was needed for proper function and fit ,so back in it went , no big deal to test for fit and function . Is the floor plate solid or does it rock ? As far as the bedding , how does it fit is more important to me than how does it look . I like a floated barrel and clearance between reciever and stock (except recoil lug and action screw area) I've seen guys bed the floorplate , doesn't look like this one was so the washer was used

I'm no gunsmith
 
I have used shims to remove pressure the bottom metal puts on the magazine box. If the mag box is pressing or binding against the action I have found that accuracy will suffer. By shimming the bottom metal will relieve any pressure and allow the mag box to float a bit. That is what I suspect the shim is there.

David
 
Just curious, why bed an A5? They are made with a prefit specific barreled action as a jig At Mac. and it can be ordered with the fitted and machined pillars.

Bedding just seems to be a solution to a non problem or am I missing a good thing?
 
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