I don't have a Tacticool (yet) but I presume they are the same as in the other Boyd's stocks I have seen. They are made of metal. As far as I can tell, they are rods with threaded ends, probably #8 or #10 diameter with recessed end caps covered up with wood plugs. What I did was in one case was to dremel a flat in the threaded part of the lamp rod I was using as a pillar. It went in well and has functioned quite properly since then.