I have ordered them both with, and without, pillars. I've never noticed any kind of stock compression issues without pillars in my McM's so I don't use them anymore.
I have quite a few varmint rifles with custom barrels and match chambers in McM stocks, they all shoot very tiny groups...it would take good wind flags and good conditions to tell the difference between any of them.
My conclustion that the individual barrel quality means more than pillar bedding McM stocks unless you are talking a benchrest rifle where you are not going to glue in the action and shooting registered matches are your hobby.
Of course, I had to put a halter on my excessive compulsive traits so I could own more guns. I even did tests on McM stocks, bedded and unbedded with custom 223's and 6 PPC's, there were about 3/8" difference in the group size. Then I did tests on non trued Rem 700's vs trued Rem 700's in bedded and non bedded McM stocks, still about 3/8 difference in groups. Next, I did a test on Rem 700 hart barrels (12" twists) in 243 AI in trued 700 actions comparing Ruger and Mauser actions fitted with same make barrels pillar bedded in McM Hunter class stock fitted with leupold 36 x scopes. Ruger and Rem gave same size groups, mauser was only about .065 larger groups which could attribute to many things including difference in how one particular barrel will shoot slightly better than others(which benchrest shooters are very familiar with). Next I started comparing the tricked out and non tricked out Rem 700's in 6 PPC to custom benchrest rifles with Hall M actions and Stolle panda actions. Again, there was very little difference, and the conclusion of which were best was determined by what rifle I was shooting on the day with the best wind conditions.
All actions were fitted with Hart Max Heavy varmint barrel contours that were 26"-29" long on varmint rifles and 22 and 24" long on the benchrest rifles(light varminit class and heavy varmint class).
There is a hell of a lot of BS out there that plays on our weakness of having everything perfect, which my also be a point on ownership pride....choose your poison.
The most accurate rifle I have ever owned was a trued 700 in a pillar bedded 40x wood stock with a 28" Pac Nor super match barrel(13" twist) chambered with a short leade 6PPC reamer shooting 60g Bergers..no one would believe the accuracy of this rifle and I burned the barrel out shooting p. dogs. I shot more "zero's" with this rifle than all my other rifle's combined. This rifle defies all logic on which platorm a super accurate rifle should be built, of course by this time I was out of Benchrest competition and into shoot'en critters.
