New to bedding.. glass/epoxy bed after pillar bedding

So I have a boyds on the way for a 110 I'm building. Going to do my first pillar bed on it.

It's a hunting rifle so don't need every bit of accuracy I can get, however down the road I may want to glass/epoxy bed the action/lug, mostly for experience but either way.

My question is the purpose of the pillars is for metal to metal contact, if I bed the action later, as long as I did the pillars properly the glass bed should squeeze out of the way and still leave the face of the pillars open, correct? Basically I have a thought that the bedding material will become higher than the top of the pillar.

I know this shouldn't happen, we'll because of metal to metal contact should squeeze all the bedding material out from between the action and the pillar. I think its this lack of sleep 3rd shift insomnia that won't let that out of my brain lol.

Side question, why do people use the T handle screws for the action when glass bedding instead of the action screws themselves? Can't I just use the action screws?

The Pillars are not for metal to metal contact, their purpose is so the Action screws can not crush the stock, causing “creep”. Epoxy bedding along with the Pillars, gives MORE area surface contact between the Action & Stock. This further prevents any movement of the Action. (Creep) There are a number who pay attention to bedding effects on Harmonics, and only bed the front or rear of whatever. I am not among Harmonics chasers, hence I do not play with Action Screw Torque values. However, some do.

I’ve always pillar and action bed at the same time, so the pillars are in contact with the action from the start. However, if you did them independently you shouldn’t have any issues, as long as you get enough compression on the action to get the pillars and action in contact with each other. It will squeeze the epoxy out of the way.

as far as the action screws, yes you can use them. However, the issue to me becomes keeping everything clean. You’ve got to butter up the holes and the outsides of the pillars to make sure you get the cavity filled. The pillars need to be attached to the action, so when you push the action/pillars into the stock the Allen heads get filled with epoxy. You also need to decide if you are going to attach your bottom metal as the epoxy sets. I’ve always felt it was best to have the bottom metal in place just to make sure everything lines up when hardened. This becomes a pain because the pillars want to spin when you are taking the action screws out. The front one is. It a big deal but the rear pillar needs to have a notch in it to allow the sear to fall. On the next one I think I’m going to grind the slot after the pillar is installed.

don’t forget to wax or shoe polish your action and the action screws before hand.

No, you don't need the t-handle bolts, but, you do need to take extra care with making sure the bolts don't get epoxied into the pillars/stock. A good release agent is your friend. Along with some clay to fill holes/cavities in the action. I do the pillars and bedding separate. Doesn't matter to me which is first. Just easier for me to 'manage' one thing at a time. The last one I did was pillars first. The one before that was bedding first.

FWIW, usually the pillars end up seated against the action. That's how my BVSS came from Savage as well.

So for right now, I'm going to do just pillars. Like I said its a hunting rifle so if accuracy is good I won't be going any further (unless this boyds I get has an unusual amount of slop)

That being said, the pillars I ordered are flat.

Googling has shown me a 50/50 mix of people either A. Leaving them flat, as long as there is some contact or B. Trying to match the curve of the channel

My goal here is simply to prevent stock cracking down the road, with a little accuracy coming in 2nd (its a hunting rifle so temp swings and weather will be in full effect)

Leave them flat? Otherwise how do I match the curve?

My mind tells my leaving flat will be fine, but you guys have more experience lol

That is why epoxy bedding with the pillars is ideal. However, yes… leaving them flat will be fine. But if you wish to radius, it’s not difficult. Wrap the Action in sandpaper and drag the pillar back & forth in a straight line will work. Though, using a Ball end mill or 2x72 grinder roller would ​make things much easier.

Never thought of wrapping the action (face palm)

Thanks everyone!

Yup.. or you can use 1/2” drive deep socket. I forget which size off the top of my head, but one of the larger sizes is very close to the 110 Action’s 1.355” diameter. That would also work.

A problem with savage actions is that they are rarely round or concentric. Bedding with the action in a relaxed condition(no screws or clamps pulling it down) allows the action to sit in the stock without being stresses or distorted. I have been led to believe this is a good thing. This is why people still bed a chassis or even a plastic/composite stock.