Wood Stock Bedding Question.

[CMBTshooter]

I have my dad's Remington 700 in .300 Win Mag now and I want to bed it. I'm going to use devcon steel bedding and I'm really comfortable with the process but I'm wondering if pillar bedding would be absolutely necessary. I've never done a wood stock before so I have no idea.

 

[Oldtrader3]

IMHO, pillar bedding is at least half the gain with bedding, especially the rear pillar.

 

[Ridgerunner665]

And especially on wood or plastic stocks...the pillars prevent compression of the stock.

With a good fiberglass stock pillars are not so important (matter of opinion really, but I tend to agree with it)

 

[Dr. Vette]

Not as necessary if you use a laminated stock, as it's stronger than regular wood.

If you decide not to use pillars and it's a regular wood stock, just realize that you still have a 25-35 in-lb limit for your action screws. I've bedded into a wood stock, and just used factory torque settings, as I was trying to prevent movement in the stock more than anything else.

 

[Elkman]

I split two factory stocks longwise between the magazine hole and the recoil lug cutout, with my 300. I bought a Chet Brown composite, then bedded it. I think pillars are a great idea. They may even help the accuracy. My best groups, sub .250, have been with H-4350 and Sierra Matchking, bullets. The 180 Partition works wonders with this cartridge. Good luck!!!!!!!! The 300 WM is one of the best. !!

 

[CMBTshooter]

Ok. Looks like I will be pillar bedding it. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Darkhorse]

I think it depends.
If your wood stock has been exposed to a lot of solvent or oils over the years then pillar bedding is absolutely necessary. The wood will be softer and the fibers will compress easier, which plays havoc with screw torque settings and being able to repeat the setting each time the action is removed.
Otherwise, no, I don't think pillars are necessary for optimum accuracy. I think the quality of your bedding job is the key.
I have researched pillar bedding because I will install pillars of some type in the M700 I have been working on, and drawn a conclusion or two...
When I do pillar bed this rifle I do not want the ones with a radius or "V" that supposedly fits the action radius, I want my pillars to be flat so there will be zero influence from the pillars on the location of the action in the stock. At first thought the radii pillars seem to be the best choice but I see this another way.
I want my tang and receiver ring bedding to locate the action in that axis. And I want the recoil lug to anchor the action in the other pertinant axis.
A radius and most defintely a "V" will tend to influence/move the action when the screws are tightened unless your total bedding job is perfect.
A flat pillar will accomplish the purpose of pillars in the first place, which is to prevent compression of the stock material. And prevent any potential problems that might manifest itself from the other type.
After all the glass or Devcon has set up is a bad time to realize you made a tiny mistake.

 

[SJB358]

If your going through the work, adding a set of pillars is cheap insurance to make sure it'll shoot. Most of the older Remington's are going to shoot well to start with. If it has the pressure pad, leave it in there till your done bedding it. Once it is solid and all ready to shoot, sand the bump out and you'll have a perfectly centered and floated barrel. Good luck, post some groups when your done.

 

[6mm Remington]

If it was me I'd pillar it also. You are doing the bedding it makes sense to do a bit more and give the rifle every opportunity to be a shooter and for it to be consistent.

 

[truck driver]

One last note if you pillar bed it get the flat style pillars instead of the V type because as you torque the action into these they tend to spread and cause stress and uneven pressure on the action from what I have read.