Warning on laminated wood stocks

[kraig]

To go along with this, I've found that since I started using a torque wrench to assemble the action screws to the same inch pounds that has greatly increase accuracy in my run of the mill hunting rifles. (bedded properly or not but bedded is better) Most folks I've run into just grab a screwdriver or an allen wrench and tighten the stock down never thinking about how it might effect the action or understanding the mechanical force a screw can put on even the most solid actions. (and that has an effect on cold bore shots and zero)

 

[shortgrass]

If you wrap tape around the barrel, now you have tape on the underside of the barrel. I can use a shim, a business card, a piece of paper folded to my desired thickness, along side the barrel on the 'offending ' side to push toward the center of the barrel channel, shifting action and all. I don't want to raise the barrel from the stock. I want to open the underside of the barrel channel to achieve the free float after the glass has cured. If you wrap the tape, you are raising the action, also. Raise it far enough and it my show at the ejection port. The bottom rail at the ejection port should be level with the opening in the stock. Bottom metal comes into play, also. Shim the barreled action far enough and now the screws don't hit the holes when you put them in. It becomes a circle jerk. A crappy stock that's not straight. One needs to be careful shimming light, hunting barrels from the side. Making sure there is plenty of room for the action to shift with the barrel. Other wise, you could be just springing the barrel away to have it spring back again when the shim is removed.

 

[DocB]

Many of you already know this, but as this is a fast growing sport, I feel that it is something good to bring up for those new to the sport or those that have never had a laminated stock. This will help with reliability and consistency.

Laminated stocks are a great replacement for many of today's tupperware stocks that come on lower priced rifles when you are striving for the best accuracy, and many factory rifles come with laminated stocks as well. While they can greatly improve accuracy and ergonomics over these tupperware stocks at a budget price, there is something you must understand.

Laminated stocks need to be properly pillar bedded, EVEN FACTORY STOCKS. I personally have seen six different laminated stocks that were cracked at either the web, tang, or recoil lug (in two cases all three) because they were not bedded. All but one were brought to me by friends or family because they were not shooting well when they used to, the other one was my personal rifle from when I was 12, I actually missed a shot at an elk on a very cold morning and had a large chunk of the tang crack out, and the action was actually movable in the stock. this stock was not repairable, as the recoil lug cracked on both sides and allowed the action to move rearward, chipping the tang. Three of these rifles were Ruger rifles in their factory stock, two of them had never had the action removed from the stock. They were in the following calibers - 30-06, my personal rifle with around 75 rounds fired, a 7mm-08, and 6.5 Creedmoor with around 150 rounds fired. Notice that these are not necessarily heavy recoiling rounds.....Another was a Savage 11 chambered in .308 with a Boyds replacement stock, the Boyds had roughly 50 rounds through it, another was a Remington 700 with the factory laminated stock chambered in .308, and the last one was a Remington 700 chambered in 7mm rem mag with a Stocky's laminated stock.

This issue can be resolved with a solid pillar bedding job. This NEEDS to be done prior to firing the rifle at all, even if it is a factory rifle that came with the stock. If you are looking at buying a used rifle with a laminate stock, there is a good chance that it is already cracked, which led to poor accuracy, which led to the rifle being sold. If the gun shop will do it, ask to have the action removed from the stock and carefully inspect, it is likely that there will be cracks in the previously stated locations. This does not necessarily mean the stock is trash....I have repaired cracks in stocks like this by gently spreading the crack open and mushing in devcon prior to doing the rest of the pillar bedding. I have laminated stocks that have over 1000 rounds through them without issue, and ones that I repaired with hundreds of rounds and no issue so far, though I would still periodically check them to make sure that the already compromised stock does not have more issues.

Just something minor that can create a major issue. I would also add that even a solid walnut stock, I will not shoot them without a proper pillar bedding.

Good Shooting everyone!!!

I really like my green laminated Boyd's stock on my 300WM. Before I put one round downrange I pillared and bedded it. It had a satin finish but I sanded it out and poly'd it to bring out the grain and reinforce the stock. It's solid as a rock and dead on!

 

[Wedgy]

When drilling the stock out for pillars do you use a piloted drill bit, drill press, etc. ?

 

[7magcreedmoor]

My own impatience provided a lesson on my first DIY build. I had various parts ordered for the final project, but wanted to shoot before everything had arrived. With the original barrel still on the action, I just bolted on the replacement stock ( a Boyd's laminate ) and headed to the range WITHOUT DOING THE PILLAR BEDDING FIRST. When I pulled it apart after the new barrel arrived to finish all my upgrades I found to my chagrin that the laminations had separated under the rear action screw (savage action- you know how big a pain in the butt they are to bed with the sear so close to the screw hole...). Inspired by the old practice of installing crossbolts through traditional wood stocks on rifles in "Africa" magnum calibers I "farm-boy engineered" the repair using a piece of coarse thread wood screw for a cross-bolt embedded in epoxy as a part of my pillar bed job and can report several thousand rounds with no signs of failure. Bedding first, shooting second. Much happier outcome that way.

 

[NEMTHunter]

Good warning for all interested. My factory savage laminate stock was split before I got it. Not sure the story behind it. I did have factory pillar bedding. One of the pillars came loose when I was working on bedding it and had to reset it.

Thanks for the heads up! Not all will have the problem but I would hate to be the guy holding it when it did give out all the way.

 

[MLN1963]

I have a Howa Mini that has pillars but the bottom metal is plastic. So I got to 30inlbs and it cracked. Got steel bottom metal yesterday and snugged evething up and is shoots great about moa with six shots at 300 with factory ammo.

Where do you get the metal ones?

 

[Bob Wright]

When drilling the stock out for pillars do you use a piloted drill bit, drill press, etc. ?

I do use a piloted cutter. As a previous smith said, screw the pillars on the receiver with tape around the screws to take up the clearance, which centers the screws in the pillar when mounted to the receiver. Then I test fit the stock with the freshly cut holes in the receiver while the pillars are tight against the receiver. Open up the holes with a Dremel or a file so no more interference is noticed. Then apply epoxy to holes and pillars and set it in the stock. After the pillars cure, with the receiver sitting in the stock restrained, pop it out and deburr. Then I inlet around the pillars, lug recess a few inches ahead of the lug, the rear tang and along the sides of the action. Then I bed the rest of the action in a second step, allowing the pillars to retain the clearance for final epoxy. Then pop it out and deburr the squeeze out from the last epoxy. Bedding the bottom metal can occur when the pillars are done. At least this way, the original action to stock height is preserved by the pillars, first, then you can inlet for the second epoxy job and free float the barrel channel to match the clearances. One way I found that keeps alignment and receiver height close to original. Hope this helps....

 

[shortgrass]

When drilling the stock out for pillars do you use a piloted drill bit, drill press, etc. ?

I use the drill press.

 

[Wedgy]

I do use a piloted cutter. QUOTE]
Been looking to get one, do you have a link ?
Thanks

 

[Bob Wright]

I got mine from Brownells, it is to fit Brownells pillars at .625 diameter. They are too tight so like my earlier post I open the holes in the stock up so there is no forced misalignment. The work very good. The pilot is interchangeable too.

 

[bigngreen]

I make a small dumb bell shaped piece of aluminium and mill out the same shape behind the front screw and epoxy that in and it creates an internal cross tie then I continue on with normal procedures on the laminates.

 

[Danehunter]

Gotta wonder what kind of accuracy these damaged stocks were giving!

For any aftermarket stock and most factory bolt action stocks BEDDING is virtually mandatory for best accuracy.

The exceptions are top end stocks who's advertisement says the ARE bedded. My Browning X-Bolt Pro has a factory carbon fiber stock that was so well bedded it was difficult to remove the barreled action to adjust the trigger. That's what I like to see.

Eric B.

 

[Frog4aday]

I'm so glad this thread popped up. Here I'm thinking laminates are 'fool-proof'. No warping. No breakage. Just a tough, stable stock that has the feel of wood. But apparently that's not so. I just read this article (https://gundigest.com/gear-ammo/accessories/laying-the-wood-the-story-of-laminate-stocks) recently and here is an excerpt:
"After coloring (the veneers), all that remains is for the veneers to be run through rollers, which deposit a proprietary epoxy to each side, then stacked by hand in the desired color combination. From there they are placed in a gigantic, multi-layer hydraulic press with heated platens that accommodate 20 blanks at a time. The stacks are compressed under 20 tons of pressure, while the heated platens speed the curing of the epoxy."

"The Laminate Advantage
As touched upon earlier, laminated stocks are not only highly distinctive and colorful, but are far stronger and more stable than one-piece stocks. You can, for example, take a wood chisel, orient it parallel with the layering of the veneers, and whack it all you want with a hammer; the stock will not split along a seam. I've also seen a laminated stock that was turned and treated by Boyds with its standard stock finish, submerged in a swimming pool for 5 days, after which there was no measurable swelling or warping."

Now I read all that and think, "There is a major disconnect somewhere." Perhaps the stock making process has changed? Or the supplier of these laminated stocks has changed and the end result is less stable and strong? Or perhaps too many gun writers have been drinking from the 'marketing' kool-aid and not paying attention to what is happening out in the real world?

I don't know what the issue is, but this post has convinced me to pillar my .270 Win in a Boyds laminated stock. I was just going to glass bed it, but now...