Pillar Bedding a Boyd Stock....Advice Needed!!

[cmspeedy]

I bought a Boyd's Prairie Hunter for a Savage 111 and I was planning on pillar bedding it. I have everything I need to do it, but I have an issue.

Their are 2 horizontal rods running through the stock that I will have to drill through in order to enlarge the stock to accept the pillars. The rear pin in particular will almost be two separate parts when I finish.

Should I simply bed it and not worry about the pillar? I really want to put in pillars as I want to learn, it was the whole point of buying a rather inexpensive stock. I don't want to damage the stock's integrity, however.

I hope someone here has experience with this and can give me some advice.

I can post pictures when I get home later.

[cgeorgemo]

Wow I did not know that Boyds stocks were coming with reinforcing rods in them now.

Notch the pillars a bit to let them clear the rods and still support the action.

It would mean drilling out a bit more in the front of each pillar's hole and then fitting the notch in the pillar over the reinforcing rod.
You'd have to be careful and drill from the top and bottom and then probably need a fine pick or narrow chisel to get the last of the wood from right around the reinforcing rod.
It also means a bit more work on the pillars to make the notches.
More epoxy would be needed due to the oblong holes but you'd have the benefit of the reinforcing rods strengthening the stock and the pillars as well.

[Werewolf]

I have bedded a couple of the newer boyds stocks with the reinforcements. The rods are aluminum, so they were easy to drill. I notched the rod to give my pillar clearance and then glued it to the pillar with the devcon aluminum epoxy I use to bed with. Aluminum rod, aluminum pillar, aluminum epoxy, it is all one piece now. I think these were added by boyds to account for someone bolting in their 458 WTF into a $100 stock and splitting it with recoil. If you are shooting a "normal" caliber you don't need the reinforcements anyway.

[jonbearman]

If you know someone with a mill,you could that person mill the pillar holes.That is what I do.