Question about aluminum pillar

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SouthPaw700

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I've been working on an older fiberglass rifle stock recently. I filled it and re-inletted it to fit my rifle. I put aluminum pillars in it as well. The pillar is made out of 1/2" aluminium rod. I bored a 0.25" hole the whole way through and then counter bored it a little bigger to fit the head of the bolt. My question is, is this ok as-is to tight up the action screws, or do I need to get a steel escutcheon and sandwich the pillar between the action and the steel escutcheon.

This is what it looks like now. Stock is being filled and sanded for paint in this pic.

16284808946_202dac6e21_c.jpg
 
Pillars made of aluminum are fine, you can also pour epoxy pillars and they are fine too. All a pillar does is to prevent the light fill in a composite stock from crushing when a screw is tightened. Screws do not need to be over tightened, good and snug is fine.
 
Plenty strong. If the pillar is bonded to the stock properly your good. I would round the edge a bit inside so paint will stick.
http://www.6mmbr.com/pillarbedding.html This is a very good article, I posted for the raised escutcheons in step ten. I have made that style of pillar except one piece.
I leave .010" between the pillars and the action. In the article regarding Photo 8, I sometimes use tape between the action and the pillars or I counter bore the pillar from the top for relief. Shrinkage of the epoxy can leave a gap between the bedding and the action if the pillars are full length and lots of epoxy is used, the whole action can rest on the pillars and float above the bedding.
 
Great, thanks for the help guys! Rob, that's a good point you make about the length of the pillars. I hadn't thought of that when I epoxied them in there, but luckily enough they are slightly below the surface (about .050" I'd say) of the action anyway, so I think I should be OK. Just wanted to check before I sprayed some paint on there!
 
I think you could bed an action only on the pillars and it would shoot fine. I have been meaning to test this but never have. If the pillar is not touching the action there is a risk that it will shift when the gun gets up a couple hundred degrees in the sun and shooting so why use a pillar. I don't use escutcheons so all you see on the bottom of the stock is the screw head which bears on the pillar. I drill 1/4 holes in my pillars which I ream larger as a last step, I don't want the side of the screw touching. If I am using cap screws I turn a countersink on the bottom of the head and countersink the pillar so it stays centred when tightened and does not walk and touch. A bit of lube on the screw heads lets them tighten easier on alu. I also radius the pillars where they contact the action but leave them flat on repeaters because it's hard to align them, I had hex stock at one point which was great but too hard to get out of the USA. Pillars are good in any stock material because there are some really heavy handed shooters out there, especially when using a hex wrench. I make and radius my pillars to match the action in use.
 
I was doing some research on pillars a little while ago, and your comment about radiusing them reminded me of this. I see that Chad Dixon sort of does half of each. It looks like he mills the top of his pillars leaving about the middle third of the pillar which has the same radius as the action. Then when he beds the stock, part of the pillars touch the stock, and the other part of the pillar has bedding material between the pillar and the action.

Here's a picture, it's probably clearer than my descirption :)

beddingII.jpg
 
He does it this way to support the action while the epoxy cures. I have other techniques to position and support the action. I don't let it float in the epoxy and hope for the best and neither does Chad, I used to supply him some stocks.
 
I have a newer Win M70 featherweight classic I was thinking of pillar bedding as. It is a wood stock which can shrink and swell. I notice that the action screw holes are oversized right from factory so I was thinking that half the work is already done.
I was going to tap the holes and thread in some hollow threaded rod as the pillars then expoy and thread in place.
Any thoughts on this?
(Sorry for the hi-jack)
 
ciphery said:
I have a newer Win M70 featherweight classic I was thinking of pillar bedding as. It is a wood stock which can shrink and swell. I notice that the action screw holes are oversized right from factory so I was thinking that half the work is already done.
I was going to tap the holes and thread in some hollow threaded rod as the pillars then expoy and thread in place.
Any thoughts on this?
(Sorry for the hi-jack)
Click to expand...

I notice that the action screw holes are oversized right from factory : but this is done deliberately to ensure that the actions screws dont touch the stock and have plenty of clearance ... if the action screws are resting against stock on the back side of the stock holes .. recoil will split a wooden stock. You would also want to ensure that your pillars (after installation) still retain full clearance between the screws and the pillars ie they have to be perpendicular and square to the action (assuming the action screw holes are tapped and in straight - which may not be) and be sufficient inside diameter to accomodate your action screws without interference. Threading is interesting approach. It would probably avoid the inevitable voids that trapped air can leave when bedding the pillars into the stock ... I actually use a set of electric (Wahl) hair clippers held against the side of the stock while the bedding compound is liquid and "vibrate" the stock side and the compound to ensure that the voids are minimized ... I dunno how much this helps as I havent cut a stock in half to test my theory but I figure it cant hurt.
 
Thanks AP. Didn't know that recoil was the reason for the clearance. I thought it may be to allow the stock to swell and contract without torqueing the screws, as wood is not as innert as plastic is in this regard.
I got the threaded pillar idea from looking at an old gunsmithing manuel covering stock repair where threaded rods (6-32?) were acra glassed in to the stock to act like splints.
Mentioned in the above thread it is mentioned that approx .005" should be left between the action and the pillar. Should the same be left between the pillar and bottom metal/ trigger guard?
Any suggestions on Dia of the pillars and perspective clearances?
 
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ciphery said:
Thanks AP. Didn't know that recoil was the reason for the clearence. I thought it may be to allow the stock to swell and contract as wood is not as innert as plastic is in this regard.
I got the threaded pillar idea from looking at an old gunsmithing manuel covering stock repair where threaded rods (6-32?) were acra glassed in to the stock to act like splints.
Mentioned in the above thread it is mentioned that aprox .005" should be left between the action and the pillar. Should the same be left between the pillar and bottom metal/ triggar gard?
Click to expand...

Pillar bedding (or any bedding) are methods of achieving a stable (and consistent) bed for the action so that it will react as consistently as possible before, during and after the shot is taken with as little variation as possible. Anything that can be done to achieve this is good - but there may be diminishing returns -- one of the things that will determine the space between the bottom metal and the pillar (and the bottom metal to stock clearance) is ensuring that your screws dont bottom out and that you can achieve the correct tension AND of course not interfere with the bolts action if they protrude too far into the action. I would not have the bottom metal bearing on the pillars ... but achieving exactly .005" clearance here may not be as easy as it sounds as the bottom metal is often not that precisely machined usually IF you are talking about a floorplate ... if there is no floorplate that accepts the action screws then the screws can bear directly against the pillars or an escutcheon ... of course proper bedding to ensure that recoil (through the lug or other provision depending on your action) is contained consistently as well is necessary as you know...
 
Thanks again AP. I have another issue to attend to first as I just discovered that the factory lug bedding has softened. (Oil saturation?cleaning solvent?)
Either way it needs a bedding job so I have some more research to do.
PM me if you would like AP....then the hijacking can end.
 
I believe accuracy is affected by insufficient screw clearance, lots of screw clearance is better than less.
 
Pillars prevent light fiberglass stocks from deforming with screw pressure. They can only deform until pillar contact. I always skim bed on top of pillars. I also think pillars are over rated when it comes to stronger heavier stocks.
 
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