Epoxy for aluminum pillars?

SavageHunter11 said:
While I wait 9+ months for my stock to get made I decided to dive into learning to pillar and bed a stock as well as inlet the stock for the Magpul DBM (because why not). Bought a Remington 700 stock off eBay for $35 and then bought some pre-cut aluminum pillars and a counter-bore drill bit off StockysStock.com. I've got my holes reamed out for the pillars and they are ready to go in. What epoxy would you suggest I use? Kinda thought I'd just go to the local hardware store and grab one of those syringes that mixes the epoxy as it dispenses but I figured I'd ask here first.
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JB Weld is what I've been using as bedding compound. Cheap, reliable
 
I'm not a gunsmith but worked for a grand gunsmith for many years on weekends and evenings after my real job.Nothing on lathes and milling machines though.
I wish he was still here as he knew so much that he had an answer for any question.
Same on this site,so many good gunsmiths and others with knowledge that I have never seen a question go unanswered.
Thanks to all for great information as I never get too old to learn.
Old Rooster
 
On all my client and my guns I use either aluminum or stainless steel devcon putty. I use a teflon spray as a release agent. I have had excellent results with the Devcon product and have been using it for nearly 15 years. All of my guns are still as tight as the day it was first cured.
I wouldn't recommend JB weld.
 
I just did a bedding job with marine-tex a month ago and tried the spray can of Hornady One Shot as my release agent... I must say it worked perfectly and was the thinnest release agent I could imagine!
 
I put a layer of painters tape or two on the barrel then use a release agent on it so my barrel is free floated when the action is bedded . I haven't tried some of the release agents that have been mentioned here but I am thinking I will . I used Devcon on one of my bolt carriers for an AR15 to build up the back end and take the slack out of it to keep the bolt face aligned as an experiment to make it more accurate . It is machinable and worked well and I didn't have to drill and tap it as some people do to stop bolt drop
 
JB weld works just fine, within a year l did ten rifles for friends pillar beded with JB weld action also just remember to tap the rifle what you want to keep clean, and shoe polish as a relese agent 3 coats.
 
Everyone loses sight of what the pillars are actually doing. The pillars are there so that the action screws don't compress the stock material when tightened. They take no recoil. That is the job of the recoil lug. If done properly, the body of the screw doesn't touch the inside of the hole so there is no load there. The only force is in the direction of compression. You can use any epoxy that will hold the pillars in the stock that has a thick enough consistency not to run during set up time. I use whatever epoxy that I am going to bed the action with because I have it on hand. All the hype is just that....
With that being said, I use white marine tex because I can color it to match the stock or acraglas gel.
 
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Loctite 9460 Hysol Non Sag Epoxy Structural Adhesive, 50 mL Dual Cartridge, Gray. Discovered this several years ago when one of our engines started sucking oil through a micro fracture on a a sbc head from a spring seat. Found this formulation for adhering dissimilar substances. I glued a spring shim in the bottom of the seat where the leak was (steel shim to aluminum head) and reinstalled the valve spring. Has been leak free since then. Started using it for bedding and never looked back. Easy to work with and will not fracture.
 
Rflshootr said:
Everyone loses sight of what the pillars are actually doing. The pillars are there so that the action screws don't compress the stock material when tightened. They take no recoil. That is the job of the recoil lug. If done properly, the body of the screw doesn't touch the inside of the hole so there is no load there. The only force is in the direction of compression. You can use any epoxy that will hold the pillars in the stock that has a thick enough consistency not to run during set up time. I use whatever epoxy that I am going to bed the action with because I have it on hand. All the hype is just that....
With that being said, I use white marine tex because I can color it to match the stock or acraglas gel.
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I have often wondered why someone in the custom rifle building business didn't design a floating pillar. My idea of a perfect pillar design is one that has an indexing feature so it can't rotate but has a smooth surface and is installed coated with a release agent so it can float vertically. I may make one sometime just for fun.
 
Edd said:
I have often wondered why someone in the custom rifle building business didn't design a floating pillar. My idea of a perfect pillar design is one that has an indexing feature so it can't rotate but has a smooth surface and is installed coated with a release agent so it can float vertically. I may make one sometime just for fun.
Click to expand...
I'm at a loss as to why that would be desirable. Whole point is to create an uncrushable pillar in the stock between the fixed position of the action and the hopefully fixed position of the bottom metal.
 
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