Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Action Screw torque help?

I took the stocks off a couple guns to adjust trigger weight. My questions now is, what is the torque of the action scews supposed to be, and what order do I screw them in?

The first gun is a Remington model 721, there are a total of 3 screws.

The second gun is a Weatherby Vanguard, has only two screws.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, Thansk Jeff.

Don't over tighten the middle screw. It needs to be just tight enough to hold the trigger guard.

What kind of bedding? Are they glassed, pillared, etc.?

DF

Definately not glass bedded. They are both factory stocks. The remington is wood, and the Weatherby is synthetic. Does that help?

Jeff

Yeah. Do you have a torque wrench?

DF

I have a buddy that is going to let me borrow his. Its a fat wrench.

You see numbers like 65 inch pounds, 35-45 inch pounds, etc. The HS Precision stocks with their aluminum bedding, call for 65 inch pounds per HS specs. I think that much pressure is to compensate for any irregularities between the machined aluminum bedding and the rifle receiver. Skim bedded, I don't think 65 inch pounds is as critical.

With a wood stock, you've got to be careful not to be crushing wood. I'd just tighten the front screw snug, the same with the rear screw and tighten the middle screw just enough to hold the trigger guard. Too much torque on the middle screw may put the action in a bind. The synthetic stock, probably the same deal, although they may stand more torque than wood.

Pillar bedding provides a "hard" end point to tightening the action screws. I think a torque wrench with specific, repeatable pressure is more important in that setting and with the aluminum chassis bedded stocks like the B&C Medalist, the HS Precision and similar.

Others may want to chime in.

DF

Lately I have been playing with torque a lot because I have been bedding guns for friends.

So far, all of the stocks these guys own have been H-S or B&C with chassis. I have found most of them shoot best between 35-45 in-lbs. At work I crank rifles to the Army's recommended 65 in-lbs (and it's what our torque wrenches are fixed at) which I believe is used to keep guns tightly bolted together during hard use.

Post bedding I have torqued them to 45 in-lbs and shot groups. I then loosened the screws and used an Allen key and using the short end as a handle I snug front and rear hand tight, then use the long arm to tighten the front screw a quarter turn. So far I can't tell a great difference.

I have found that 65 in-lbs causes these guns to act funny. I do not think there is ever a reason to go over 50 in-lbs. A torque wrench is great for insuring you don't over torque an unbedded gun. A pillared gun has a pretty positive stop as you tighten it. I still use a torque wrench but I am convinced snug to snug plug works pretty well.

Another consideration with torque is the screws. With slotted screws, you'd better have a perfect fit screwdriver and a padded vice to hold the gun so you can put a bunch of pressure on the screw as you torque it up. Otherwise, you 're going to ruin the screws. Hex head screws are better for this application.

DF