Gale McMillan, founder of McMillan Fiberglass Stocks, partnered with the Marine Corp in 1975 in a project that has been recognized as the birth of the modern tactical rifle, the M40A1. Made of fiberglass, with a heavier than normal forearm and traditional hunting lines aft, this stock is still in service with many units.

A tactical rifle is used under stress, usually when all other measures have failed and human lives are in danger. At the critical moment, all components must work flawlessly, every time. This prime consideration flows through all the decisions a stock designer must make when developing a tactical stock.

A number of well-respected, successful gunsmiths and gun builders use techniques that are different than the one I described in Part III. As I said, they are successful gun makers that build very accurate guns. No one can say that their technique doesn’t work. As I stated, we “believe” that ours is the best way, but realize that having a choice is always a good thing. Following is a description of the other technique most widely used.

When pillar bedding gained acceptance, there was little argument about how to do it right. It seemed almost everyone in the competitive arena used similar techniques.

Not long after the pillar bedding process was developed, fiberglass stocks came onto the scene.While benchrest shooters were convinced that pillar bedding had a positive effect on the accuracyof their rifles, they assumed the same process would help to improve accuracy of a fiberglassstock rifle.

In the firearms industry, it seems there is always a “trend” that is accepted as state-of-the-art, atleast until something else comes along to replace it. Right now aluminum bedding blocks seemto be the trend. I recently posted our views on the ABB, so I won’t go into that now, but there isa related trend that I think needs addressing—pillar bedding or bedding using aluminum pillars.