Anybody have any idea what the torque specs are for the stock screws on a wood stocked Model 7 CDL? The front screw is quite a bit larger than the screw behind the trigger guard. Remington says 30 to 35 in/lb for both. That sounds like a little much for the little one. Any ideas?

This may be of no help to you but I feel like running my fingers.....

I tighten the front one "pretty tight". Not gorilla, but I'd guess it it 30-35. The small back one I tighten as tight as I can get it with with 2 fingers and my thumb holding the allen wrench. Not to specific for anyone else, but it has worked well for me.

This may mess it all up for you, but...mine are bedded.

Time to prep some brass. Good luck,

JCM

I'd go 35 and 25. 25 is still PLENTY tight for a wood stock.

Individual rifles use individual amounts of torque for it's barreled action.

You have to "experiment" with different inch/pound combinations to find out which combination gives YOUR individual rifle the greatest accuracy.

Remington's recommendation of "30 to 35 inch/lbs for both" screws is pretty darned heavy... about all a normal man can put on a screwdriver if its blade fits the screw's slot perfectly... depending on the size of the screwdriver's handle. The bigger the handle, the better a man can get a solid grip on it.

An old benchrest shooter once told me that tight screws compress the stock's wood and that benchrest shooters LOOSEN their barreled action screws when they're NOT shooting.

I sorta find THAT hard to believe.. but the old shooter was very serious while telling me this so-called "fact".

I'm currently experimenting with the stock screws on my new CZ453 with a single-set trigger. The front screw is set at 20 in/lbs and the rear screw is set at 25 in/lbs.

When I first removed the barreled action from the stock, both screws were CONSIDERABLY tighter than 25 inch/pounds. In fact, I could barely loosen them without slipping out of the screw-slots. My best guess as to their tightness... perhaps as much as 35 inch/lbs. As a result, I intend to tighten both screws to a greater degree... perhaps up to 30 inch/lbs on the rear and 25 inch/lbs on the front screw... and then, see how accurately the rifle shoots.

At this point, I am considering getting custom-made stock screws that have a allen-wrench head instead of a slotted screw head so that the torque screw-driver tool won't slip out of the screw.


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

I like that idea.

The M7's I have are set up for allen wrenches. I do like them more thans slotted screws.....but it would probably help if I had some quality gunsmithing screw drivers.

JCM

I purchased a Wheeler Engineering FAT torque screwdriver recently. The recommendations on that say 40 inch/lbs. for unbedded, wood stocks. Well, that's way more than I had my M700 Mt. Rifle bolts at, but I gave it a run anyway. The 40 inch/lbs. threw my accuracy all to hell, but this is a rifle that needs to be bedded as it is. I tighten the back screw to about 25 inch/lbs, then I tighten the front one until I feel the barrel start pulling to one side (like I said, it needs to be bedded) that brought my decent accuracy back.
Selmer

The usual practice is to tighten both screws finger tight to hold it all in place, then snug the front screw as tight as possible by hand. Finally, snug up but don't crank on the rear screw.

Anyone running a front screw in any way loose on a wood stock is just begging for trouble.