Question for the Hide. Just got my McMillan A5 back from a gunsmith and noticed the pillars are not in contact with the bottom metal, as seen in the picture there is a gap between the pillars and where the fiberglass interfaces with the bottom metal. Any idea why a gunsmith would do this, and will this cause any accuracy issues or any need to re-bed pillars? Thanks in advance! 
- Thread starter Patrickdb_98
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Were the pillars presintalled in the stock?
I’m betting so and he did what he had to do to make it work without butchering a new stock. I also bet it’s fine.
I’m betting so and he did what he had to do to make it work without butchering a new stock. I also bet it’s fine.
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The pillars are supposed to provide metal-to-metal-to metal contact from the bottom metal through the pillars, to the action. Basically sandwiched between the bottom metal and the action, and clearly yours do not. If the smith was supposed to install them I’d call and have a conversation.
Didn't Chad from LRI say here a couple of years ago that pillars aren't really necessary in the McMillan fiberglass stocks, but customers always request them anyways?
To clarify, the stock was sent to a gunsmith to be inletted for an M5 bottom metal with preexisting pillars. When I got it back I noticed the issue with the pillars. Just trying to figure out if it’s worth drilling or pressing out the pillars to have new ones reinstalled. I have heard McMillans don’t need pillars, I’m just newer to the long range shooting game and don’t know any better.
I currently have McM stocks with and without pillars, and have had multiple examples of each over the years.
With a good bedding job, I've never come away thinking I was missing out for not going the other way.
Now, that job of cutting the bottoms the pillars off seems wierd to me...but maybe the guy who did it has an explanation if you give him a call.
With a good bedding job, I've never come away thinking I was missing out for not going the other way.
Now, that job of cutting the bottoms the pillars off seems wierd to me...but maybe the guy who did it has an explanation if you give him a call.
What type of bottom metal are you using? One of the things pillars provide is correct spacing between the reciever and the bottom metal. If your spacing is correct and the fill of your stock is firm enough you won't have an issue. If the spacing isn't correct or the fill is light, it needs some attention.
Stock has a Badger M5 on it, spacing seems to be correct as magazine feeds properly. Bought the stock secondhand and am unaware of what fill was used but seems to be plenty solid. I’m going to give the gunsmith a call in the morning to figure out what happened. Thanks for all the responses so far.
No, not worth that task. It looks like Marine-Tex was used, probably the hardest product available. It's solid and will hold up to years of use.
The badger website shows what the length of the pillars/spacing should be.
Maybe it is just me but I don't see a pillar in the hole.
It's pretty hard to see because your flip phone is small.
Those are the remnants of the small pillars that McMillan puts in their stocks per customer requests for pillars. It appears that the gunsmith opened up the pillar channel for the the larger .560 " ( + / - ) diameter pillars. I would think that it should be relatively easy to adapt the larger pillars to fit your stock & bottom metal.
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