Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Is there any real reason to get machined pillars intalled in a McMillan for a 98 Mauser?

Thinking about it, the fit of the bottom metal/recoil lug acts as a pillar on the front. Steel pillars for the rear are about $6 and I've installed them myself on wood stocks...I understand the advantages of the factory installed pillars on Remingtons and Savages, just wondering if it's worth it on a Mauser or if I should just save $22 and put a steel one in myself?

Is this some type of Edge fill?

Otherwise, adding pillars to a McMillan does nothing. You cannot crush the epoxy used at action torque, pillars are done for the sake of technique on a standard fill.

Thanks, all I needed to hear. It is a standard fill stock.

I will disagree with this. A steel pillar is much more resistant to compression than the fill used in a McMillan stock. With a steel pillar, tight is tight. I can reassemble a rifle that has been broken down with only a hex wrench or screwdriver and it will still be dead nuts on. I can't get this repeat-ability with the typical fill only.

I've not witnessed an advantage for using pillars in a standard/magnum fill McMillan.

Well I went ahead and ordered without pillars, I can always epoxy steel ones in, done that in several wood stocks can't see why it wouldn't work on glass.

That's what I did. So far so good.

Which McMillan did you order?

Mauser stock, 50% Black, 25% Olive, 25% Med Grey...it's listed on the site as Interarms Mark X. Same pattern as this one:

Well.
Mausers were originally built with a rear pillar. So....

It's a nice stock. The last M98 McMillan I ordered was on a Sako Compact pattern. It's basically the same pattern but it has a shorter forend and no cheek piece. IMO it works a little better for light contoured barrels.

I've got 4 or 5 of them rolling around in my spare parts box, I'll be fitting the pillars myself. Not really even a big job, just press fitting should be fine. Shouldn't even need epoxy for this one.

I would never assume a commercially produced stock would be a stress free platform unless it was built and bedded around my barreled action. Could be one's barreled action is out of kilter, the stock does not mesh perfectly, or both.

Echols puts 3 pillars in his M70 Legend builds, regardless of Std. or Edge.

With the M98 yes you already have a pillar in the front, so why not also a matching in the rear?
especially since M98 tangs are so narrow and have relatively little stock bearing space, all the more
reason to have a rear pillar. - Its the last place I would try and skimp on money or time.

But Mausers weren't originally equipped with McMillan stocks...

I wasn't talking about skipping the rear pillar, I was asking if there is any reason why I couldn't just put a steel one in myself instead of getting aluminum. I will be putting steel in myself.