Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Torque Specs on Action??

Hi,

Got a Browning X-Bolt in 7MM WSW last week. To adjust the trigger you have to remove the bottom metal. These are the same screws that hold the barreled action in the stock.

The book that came with the rifle says to just snug them back. Well, I called Browning and the rep I spoke with said the correct Torque spec for the action screws was 65 in/lbs. both front and rear. I asked if he was sure and he said he was.

Does this sound like alot to you? I've heard of pillar bedded rifles taking that much but not wood stocked rifles.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Best,

Dee

My Wheeler Engineering torque wrench specifies 40 inch pounds for a wood stock with no pillar bedding.

Weatherby told me 55 inch pounds for my Ultralight, aluminum bedding block stock.

Allen

Have you established what the Blue Torque is yet? Its 5 In./Lbs less than that

My 2cents; most modern recievers, action screws, and bottom metal are made of such construction that such components can easily obtain the highter torque specifications without damage. But, the stocks and their inlets is a different matter as wood is wood and some of the factor stocks are poorly inleted leaving the barreled action in a bind. In such cases, I generally torque factory wood stocks as tight as I can just short of binding the action up to around 35 to 40 inch-pounds. Some of the current factory wood stocks such as the Ruger Hawkeye are made of excellent wood which is factory CNC inletted with a design that can easily exceed this torque setting, but in general terms I go no higher that that which will either bind the action or crush the stock.

Properly installed pillars along with a proper inlet will allow a wood stock to be torqued to a higher setting without binding or crushing and I generally torque these in the 50 inch-pound range though many go to 65 inch-pounds as a rule of thumb. On a fiberglass stock with or without pillars that is properly inletted I generally go 65 inch-pounds. An aluminum bedding block that is properly bedded is in this same category.

As an added twist, on most current factory mkII and Hawkeye Rugers that are factory inletted without proper bedding, I have found that torquing the front screw to 35 inch-pounds, rear screw to 25 inch-pounds, and middle screw to 15 inch-pounds is as high as I can go on average before the action begins to bind.

Hope this is of some help.

Well all those different numbers by all those "experts" once again gives credence to my idea that most of these guys turn therory into fact...

Torque in a bolt action is pretty much bunk IMO..I tighten the screws a bit at a time to keep things even until very snug, then release the rear screw just a tad. I want screws slots to face North and South for sure...That has always seemed to work for me..the main thing is don't put warp stresses on the action. If I bed a stock I could actually do away with the rear screw but I don't instead I just don't put any real torgue on it.

I have one of those torque screwdrivers but gave it up years ago and it now gathers dust.

On a piller bedded action real snug will work as well as anything else, then mark the position of your screw slots when accuracy shows up best.

I called browning again and this Tech said there is no spec but the factory uses 35 in/lbs.

I told him of my previous conversation and asked why don't they settle on a number.

Hell, those guys are there to take orders for new clips, don't know balls about the product.

I took it to a smith and am gonna have him install pillars and glass bed the thing properly.