pillar bedding questions

TheNewGunnut

TheNewGunnut

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So recently bought a Winchester xpr chambered in 6.5mm creedmoor, it's been surprisingly accurate for how cheap of a gun it is. How ever I've decided to try my hand at glass bedding/pilliar bedding the OEM stock to see if it makes a diffrence.

So far I have added rockite to the stock for some much needed wieght and plan to go over it with a bedding compound next. I've been trying find some information on the xpr and if there is any pilliar kits for it, as of yet i have been unable to find anything. So I'm planning to make my own out of either aluminum or steel tubing.

So onto my main question at this point. How much play is to much play between the pilliar and the bolt? The original holes allow for a fair amount of play, is that acceptable or should I be trying to find somthing that will fit the bolts as closely as possible?
Thanks for your time
 
I believe it is pretty common to use tape to build up the diameter of the action screw when bedding in the pillars, so that the action screws end up not touching the inside of the pillar when finished. If the screws are pressed tight against the rear of the pillar or stock hole, they are likely transferring recoil to the stock, which you do NOT want them to be doing. I have followed various on-line and gunsmithing books to make my own pillars for mausers - that has a 1/4" diameter action screw, so hole in pillar is opened up to 5/16" . Then wrap wide masking tape around action screw to build it up to snug fit in that 5/16" hole. "Perfect" is when only the recoil lug is transferring recoil to the stock - not action screws, not magazine or trigger guard, not rear end of receiver tang.
 
Well to be honest I bought this gun as somewhat of an experiment. I'd never shot the caliber befor nor had any in my circle of friends at the time. So I bought a cheap model. Now I've decided to tinker with it to see if I can turn a cheaper gun that shoot well into a cheap gun that shoots great. To my way of thinking worst case scenario adding the wieght and bedding the stock goes sideways and I purchase a new stock. Nothing I'm planning to do should effect the safety of the gun what's so ever.

As for the wieght its half personal preference, I found it to be a little front heavy and the stock felt somewhat cheap and flimsy. The other half of the equation is that since trying the gun my wife has discovered she enjoys target shooting with it, however she was in a bad accident(years ago)and broke her right in 5 places and the recoil bothers her after a few shots. So I figure I'll add some wieght to it bed it and install a break too see if I can get the recoil to a manageable level for her.

Now as I mentioned if I dont like the finished product I'll be buying am aftermarket stock. Which was my intent all along until I got the urge to try and "make it better"
 
Ha! Many of us would say that you are sliding pretty good down that "slippery slope" - all starts with deciding to try to "make it better". Then you'll need to buy a tool you don't have. Then a part. Then you are buying parts for rifles you don't own or an extra scope, and end up buying rifles to use up the parts or the scope. Next thing you know, you are fully deep into it - rifles on hand with no scopes; scopes that haven't been mounted yet; scoped rifles that haven't been sighted in yet, and Lord knows how far behind on the hand loading ideas!! Welcome aboard!!
 
Haha I'm not sure about the parts for guns I dont own but I can see me buying parts for a rifle I'm going to build. Hand loading isnt somthing I've gotten into yet emphasis on yet. Its coming I'll probably get the gear this winter and start testing next spring if I'm honest!
 
guntech said:
I have never seen any benefit to 'tight' action screws. A loose fit is better in my experience.
Click to expand...

Again guntech, you leave out a very important bit of information. Likely because you're assuming it's obvious.

OP. There was a time, a few decades back, when pouring bedding compounds that waxing the bolts and bedding around them was the way to go. Waxing them, along with the action allowed them to be taken out later. However, there is always a few thousandths of an inch of movement after the first couple of shots and it was found that the bolts would cause a bit of binding, leading to inconsistent accuracy. Or at least that was the assumption.

I still wax the bolts and fill the pillars full of epoxy compound when I bed the action/pillars into the stock. When everything has cured, I take out the screws, pull the action and drill the holes in the pillars to enlarge them to give lots of clearance around the action screws.
 
I don't know what I left out... there is no benefit to tight fitting action screws. Loose is not a problem.

I agree on the possible accuracy problem... maybe that is what I did not say...?
 
guntech said:
I don't know what I left out... there is no benefit to tight fitting action screws. Loose is not a problem.

I agree on the possible accuracy problem... maybe that is what I did not say...?
Click to expand...

Yup. You're a knowledgeable smith and likely it was so obvious, you just didn't mention it. Not dissing your reply in the least.
 
Dennis,
Maybe it's because at our level of maturity we just don't catch these nuances. I thought you covered it pretty succinctly. Screws should have clearance; what more can you say? I suppose you could have fleshed it out a bit to get the word count up but I would have been happy with it.
 
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