Pillar bedding on a Boyd's stock?

Kilo Charlie

Kilo Charlie

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I'm planning to order a Boyd's laminated stock for my Model 10 Savage. It's available with a forward pillar, a $62.00 US upcharge.
I had planned to glass-bed the rifle if I felt it was required.
I have zero experience with pillars; is it a worthwhile add-on to the stock? The cost is immaterial.
FWIW, it's a hunting rifle in .250 Savage, and the stock will be their Platinum model.
Thanks,
Kevin
 
dan belisle said:
If you are glass bedding it, pillars won't be needed. - dan
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Yes and no. Glass bedding will eliminate the use of pillars if the glass fills the kingscrew hole to the trigger guard.

Many people think pillars enhance accuracy. Not so IMHO. The reason for installing pillars is to stop compression of the stock material.

Yes, even composite stocks can be damaged by overtorquing the screws.

So I guess, pillars can help to enhance accuracy but only because they eliminate the compression issue.

Some folks also believe the pillars stop the receivers from rearward/forward moving, maybe but there still has to be clearance for the screws and if the receiver is going to move, it will quickly take up that clearance etc.

OP, IMHO get the pillars installed by Boyd's, even if you intend to glass bed your stock. IMHO the cost is well worth it if you don't have the tooling to size those pillars properly they can be a real problem.

I've seen more than one rifle with pillars that were to long or still had hacksaw marks from sloppy work
 
dan belisle said:
Disagree, in a laminate stock unless you're a hamfisted gorilla, you aren't going to compress it. - dan
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Not true, I had a Boyds laminate on a Axis 7-08 that the stock kept coming loose...pillar bedded it front and rear, still tight to the action 5 years later :)
 
hawk-i said:
Not true, I had a Boyds laminate on a Axis 7-08 that the stock kept coming loose...pillar bedded it front and rear, still tight to the action 5 years later :)
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I should add this gun was carried rough on my back while riding both sleds and atv's and was getting jolted hard when doing so.
 
dan belisle said:
Disagree, in a laminate stock unless you're a hamfisted gorilla, you aren't going to compress it. - dan
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Sadly, many are ham fisted. Just fixed one this afternoon that was compressed by its owner.

I don't know why you think a laminate stock is any different, when it comes to compression as any other stock?

Some are made from very soft wood. The glue really doesn't make much difference.
 
skwerl said:
Sounds like you are tougher than the laminate stock.
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Ha, yeah but the fact is the action would end up being loose in the laminated stock no matter what opinions people have.
Pillar bedding cured this problem once and for all.
 
guntech said:
I agree Dan...

and some people shouldn't own firearms either ...
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If that's the case, then I guess off the shelf walnut, beech, maple stocks shouldn't need pillars either????

Even the Germans realized that laminated stocks needed pillars as well as recoil shoulders in them.

Any rifle, no matter which stock material it's made from, without pillars or bedding blocks is subject to the forces of nature and the foibles of bubba.
 
bearhunter said:
If that's the case, then I guess off the shelf walnut, beech, maple stocks shouldn't need pillars either????

Even the Germans realized that laminated stocks needed pillars as well as recoil shoulders in them.

Any rifle, no matter which stock material it's made from, without pillars or bedding blocks is subject to the forces of nature and the foibles of bubba.
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Good glass bedding is perfectly fine in solid wood stocks. As far as I am concerned the only stocks that "need" pillars are those lightweight fibreglass stocks that do actually crush easily with tight screws. The majority of stocks that are pillar bedded are due the owner wanting it... nad there is nothing wrong with that. But pillar bedding is no magic bullet cure all...
 
You're right about pillar bedding not being a magic cure all, but for some of the more energetic or ham fisted or just plain hard on firearms, the pillars can and often do stop a problem before it starts.
 
Laminated stocks don't crush any more easily than any other but they do shrink and swell, like any other wood. I don't think the pillars, as installed by Boyds, are worth the cost. However, I have always cast fiberglass pillars on stocks I bedded and do the same with laminated stocks. This is best done in two steps, First, cast the pillars, then bed the action.
 
Like many others here have said, I’d just get some Devcon or whatever and glass bed it. Keep your action screws at about 45”lbs so you don’t crush the wood.
 
I would fit pillars, epoxy bed and torque action screws to manufacturer spec. Right way to do it.
Wooden stock swell slightly and shrink slightly, of course they can crush somewhat, just like injection moulded plastic that can flow away under pressure or those composite stocks that do not have internal pillars.
edi
 
Boyds makes laminate stocks that use very little epoxy between the wood layers
those are not as strong as old laminates
I have one and I can easily mark it with my fingernail along the wood strips
 
Leeper said:
Laminated stocks don't crush any more easily than any other but they do shrink and swell, like any other wood. I don't think the pillars, as installed by Boyds, are worth the cost. However, I have always cast fiberglass pillars on stocks I bedded and do the same with laminated stocks. This is best done in two steps, First, cast the pillars, then bed the action.
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I do the same but bed the action first, then the pillars. Six of one or half a dozen of the other.

I also use 5/16 and 3/8 titanium arrow shafting material for pillars, they can easily be cut to desired length and don't need to be glass bedded.

I especially like using these pillars for the rear action screw
 
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