Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only To pillar bed, or not to pillar bed a 505 Gibbs....

That is question I am faced with. I am about to stock my Montana Rifle 505 Gibbs PH Action (a Giant Win 70)and I extremely concerned with the strength of the stock. The stock will have dual crossbolts and a barrel mounted forward recoil lug. I plan on bedding the recoil lug with marine tex and full bed the action, with a a layer of bedding tape covering the metal. Would additional pillar bedding be beneficial or harmful. Also, any advice from someone who has built these bruisers would be more than appreciated! Thanks!

Welcome to the Campfire 577, you will be fine with your Gibbs bedded the way you mention, I don't believe pillar bedding is necessary, especially with the cross bolts doing the anti-splitting duty.

For what it's worth, I had the same concerns a few years ago with my Gibbs, I purposefully and with new Jamison cases loaded 50 rounds with the 600 gr Woodleigh protected point bullets to a full 2450 fps with H-4831 powder to check the relation of my stock and crossbolts to the barreled action, all turned out well.

I then proceeded to load the remaining 50 sticks of brass to a more sedate, yet believe to be equally as effective 2150 fps with the same 600 gr Woodleigh bullets, also have a 600 gr solid load now to go with the soft.

Good Luck, and hang on, she bucks a little.

Thanks Gunner. I have only stoked up to 375 H&H and the big guys definitely get me on edge. I know about taping the non-contact edges of the recoil lug, but I should even bother taping the receiver bottom prior to bedding? On previous jobs I just taped the sides of the receiver and left the bottom to mate to the stock. I am not sure if the is advisable and on the real heavy kickers, and as previous stated, this is uncharted territory for me! Thanks again

You're most welcomed 577, I had my 'Smith bed all edges solid, he had no concerns on separating the stock from the barreled action on curing, and I DIDN'T want anything to have a running start at movement!