I would not remove any wood around the recoil lug or under the action until you have the pillars done. The recoil lug helps align everything. As already mentioned, put two layers of tape around the action screw shafts to make sure they center in the pillars. Attach the pillars to the action using the taped action screws. See if the barreled action with pillars attached will drop into the stock without binding on the sides of the stock holes. You may need to do some more fitting to make sure the barrel and tang are free-floated and centered and the pillars slide freely into the holes. Double check to make sure the bottom metal holes align with the pillars and action screw holes. Make sure the action is level from side-to-side in the stock. If so, you are ready to bed the pillars without the bottom metal in place. You can always come back and bed any gaps/voids around or between the bottom of the pillars and bottom metal. Make sure to put release agent on the action screws, action bottom and other parts in case epoxy runs out from around the pillars.