Gunsmithing Need help fitting an action into a stock

[glock24]

I just received my Remington 700 short-action that has returned from Mike @ Underground Skunkworks with a new Bartlein barrel. The caliber is 223, and I'm running ten round AICS mags.

Tonight I started fitting it to my new McMillan A3 stock with machined pillars. I'm using Seekins AICS bottom metal. It fits perfectly flush with the bottom of the A3.

Before bedding, I started by bolting everything together and cycling a few dummy rounds to ensure reliable operation. While my rounds seem to load fine, I'm concerned that my magazine seats just a bit too low. I was hoping for some second opinions before I went any further.

Here is how the action fits in the stock. Does this seem okay or a bit too high?

The belly of the stock is a bit rough. I'm not entirely sure that the action is all the way down on the pillars, or being held up by all this extra carbon fiber. Should I try sanding the inlet of the stock smooth? If so, how?

Lastly, below is the relationship of my bolt to my seated magazine. Does the magazine seem too low? You can see I have a gap between the magazine feed lips and the bottom of the receiver.

So . . . should I;

1. Bed it and forget it
2. Try to lower the action by sanding down the inlet
3. Bed it as-is, and ask Glen for a longer magazine latch which will seat the magazine a bit higher?


Any insight would be appreciated.


Thanks

 

[jasonk]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

Do you have calipers? With the tail that sticks out the back to measure depth?

Assemble the setup outside the stock and measure from the bottom of the BM to the bottom of the action feed ramps. Assemble in the stock and make the same measurement. See if the stock is holding the action off the pillars.

 

[LRI]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

A round action should reside half in/half out of the stock's show line. The show line is the top edge surface of the stock.

In the case of a Remington 700 the nominal OD of the receiver is 1.35". Half would be .675".

So, half should sit in, half should be exposed.

The FIRST thing you do is determine the proper trigger location. With the stock in your shoulder place your finger where it would naturally want to rest if there were a trigger installed.

Mark that location and drive the placement of the action from there.

I realize this may/may not be easy for a guy at home as it can very likely result in things being moved around. A dremel/file can make this a bit of a daunting task.

Just saying that's how it should be done.

Hope this helps.

C

 

[glock24]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

Makes sense Jason.

I just took those measurements, and it seems my action is just about all the way down;

Rear pillar area: 1.077" action outside stock, 1.080" action inside stock

Front pillar area: 0.729" action outside stock, 0.731" action inside stock

I also peeked inside the mag well with the bottom metal removed. I can now clearly see the action resting on the entire inlet area.

Knowing my action is down all the way, now what do you say about my situation?

 

[Glen Seekins]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

<span style="text-decoration: underline">If you use our pillars that are included </span>you should have no issue at all. We have a bunch running great with 223, AICS and AW mags and the exact latch you have. You shouldn't have any worries. The mags are a bit different from one to the other.

Pillar lengths are
.715" front
1.07" Rear

This is going to tighten you up significantly

I suggest proper bedding with the included pillars. They will lower you down a little bit. You need to move the action down until it rests on top of the pillars. Make sure you have room for bedding compound. The should NOT be any bedding compound built up on either end of the pillars.

If you want to see if its going to feed well, just bolt the DBM up with the action using the pillars. No stock. Check and see how it feeds. If you have issues just let me know.

 

[glock24]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

Glen,

I can appreciate your desire to use your specific pillars, but I don't know that they will solve my problem without significant effort on my part.

This A3 came with installed, and machined aluminum pillars. They are already sitting flush to both the action and bottom metal inlets. Even if I removed them, and dropped in your shorter pillars, my action and bottom metal would NOT change locations because they are already resting on the surface of their respective inlets.

Is it possible McMillan's inlets aren't correct for your bottom metal setup? I don't want to try and deepen the action inlet with my Dremel tool. I wonder if McMillan would agree to cut the action inlet a bit deeper?

 

[Glen Seekins]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

They are inleted correctly, Its common to deepen the action area to allow for bedding compound. I dont see any pillars in your stock?

With anyones DBM the pillar length is going to be critical. The best way to do it is to sit your bottom metal in the stock flush like you want it and make the action fit with the proper pillar length.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

how were you planning on bedding the action without removing material to start with? Seems to me, if there are pillars in your stock, you would want them to be milled down to the same size as Glen's pillars if you don't want to remove them.

Just reading over this, it is obvious that you have the answers to the questions you asked, now you just need to decide if it is worth fixing for yourself...

 

[glock24]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: GasLight</div><div class="ubbcode-body">how were you planning on bedding the action without removing material to start with? Seems to me, if there are pillars in your stock, you would want them to be milled down to the same size as Glen's pillars if you don't want to remove them.

Just reading over this, it is obvious that you have the answers to the questions you asked, now you just need to decide if it is worth fixing for yourself... </div></div>

If this indeed obvious, then I am disappointed. I didn't realize that spec'ing a new McMillan stock with a specific bottom metal would then require me to Dremel out the inlet for a proper fit.

I agree is it obvious that my action is sitting too high, but I'm a bit dumbfounded at my road ahead.

Interestingly, I just got off the phone with McMillan. Mr. Davis says that he wants me to sit my action directly on the existing inlet and skim bed it. I asked him about sending it back and inletting it deeper. He'll do it, but he'll only inlet the bottom metal so it sits deeper in the stock.

 

[GasLight]

Re: Need help fitting an action into a stock

yes, any stock needs material removed to bed an action. The inlet from Mcmillan will fit your stock without bedding material around it. This is how their inlet is designed, and IIRC they say that you may not even need to bed the rifle in their stock. That said, I think 99% of time in a fiberglass stock, it will improved the accuracy. So, standard procedure is to remove material. Typically if the pillars are the right height, you would only need to remove the filler material around them, and then the pillars dictate the height of the action. To me it sounds like your pillars from McMillan are slightly too long and need to be trimmed down.

Dave