Discontinuing using the recoil lug?

Pete Wass

Pete Wass

Well-known member
I recently bought a Rattler action HBR rifle. It currently has a recoil lug installed. The rifle is chambered for 30 BR. I have had a number of rifles chambered in 30 BR and none of them had a recoil lug, they simply used the rear of the tang as a recoil lug, if you will. Is there any reason I shouldn't discontinue using the recoil lug? I need to save some weight on this rifle and thought this might be a place top do it.

Thanks,

Pete
 
I need to shed

a few oz because of the recoil pad I'm gonna have installed. I got arthuritus in my right shoulder I learned this week. Nothing they can do.

P
 
Pete Wass said:
a few oz because of the recoil pad I'm gonna have installed. I got arthuritus in my right shoulder I learned this week. Nothing they can do.

P
Click to expand...

Hang on Pete..... I shoot a lot of Big Thunder and I hate recoil.

I use a strap-on PAST recoil shield on my shoulder, it's better than a recoil pad and you get used to "feeling" the pressure quickly, IMO it doesn't hamper your ability to get into/off the rifle. This way you will have to GAIN weight on the rifle cuz you're gonna' be cutting the buttstock off shorter!

justa'thought
 
I'll throw in a second on the past strap on recoil pad. I wore one for all the years of score shooting and, though it may not have been the manliest thing on the line, it made shooting a very pleasant experience (I developed a nasty flinch after getting tagged by the scope a few times). I recently switched to the mag shield size from the bigger one, and am very happy with it. You can put it under a t shirt if'n you dont want to have a "bro" or a "manziere" out in public.
Mike
 
I've been using one

alinwa said:
Hang on Pete..... I shoot a lot of Big Thunder and I hate recoil.

I use a strap-on PAST recoil shield on my shoulder, it's better than a recoil pad and you get used to "feeling" the pressure quickly, IMO it doesn't hamper your ability to get into/off the rifle. This way you will have to GAIN weight on the rifle cuz you're gonna' be cutting the buttstock off shorter!

justa'thought
Click to expand...

for a number of years now but thanks all the same.

Pete
 
At my age

savet06 said:
I'll throw in a second on the past strap on recoil pad. I wore one for all the years of score shooting and, though it may not have been the manliest thing on the line, it made shooting a very pleasant experience (I developed a nasty flinch after getting tagged by the scope a few times). I recently switched to the mag shield size from the bigger one, and am very happy with it. You can put it under a t shirt if'n you dont want to have a "bro" or a "manziere" out in public.
Mike
Click to expand...

my appearance is of little concern to me Michael. I hadn't thought about a bigger one but am now :).

Thanks,

Pete

P.S. can you PM me your contact information please? Thanks.
 
savet06 said:
................... though it may not have been the manliest thing on the line,
Click to expand...

See that's where I just don't care. Never have cared. I always figgered that anyone thinks my "manhood" derives from the way I present myself, that's THEIR problem. It only becomes my problem when I inadvertently mingle with them, thereby causing them to "accept" me.

So I present as un-manly as possible......

I call it My First Line Of Defense Against The Forces Of Dorkness.

I remember when it wasn't manly to wear eyes 'n ears......



what?
 
Pete Wass said:
I recently bought a Rattler action HBR rifle. It currently has a recoil lug installed. The rifle is chambered for 30 BR. I have had a number of rifles chambered in 30 BR and none of them had a recoil lug, they simply used the rear of the tang as a recoil lug, if you will. Is there any reason I shouldn't discontinue using the recoil lug? I need to save some weight on this rifle and thought this might be a place top do it. Thanks, Pete
Click to expand...

Hi, Pete. Since you'll have to set the barrel back after you remove the lug, I'd opt to work on the muzzle end instead if you need a bit of weight off.

If you're going to make a spacer to compensate for the lug thickness, you're just not going to lose much weight.

I've never liked the action tang beating on the stock for a recoil surface. On a couple that I've had to do this way, a piece of .250 aluminum was inletted into the stock as the recoil surface.

My experience was the HBR guns handle better in the bags with the recoil lug being lower and forward.

For what it's worth.... :) -Al
 
Thanks Al

I think I have noticed a choke, so to speak, in the first two inches of the barrel on one of my rifles and not sure about the one I want to set back. I was considering putting a 1" Kickease pad on it and need to shed 7oz. Probably can't do it so am considering now a recoil reducer I can wear. The stock has to be cut for me to be able to shoot this rifle better or more comfortably. Ah, the problems we get ourselves into, eh? I do want to change the chamber to my reamer's chamber though so will have to do something in the back.How much does 2" of cylinder size barrel metal weigh anyway?

Pete
 
alternative
do not set it back
simply add an al spacer where the lug was.
no rechambering
 
retired said:
alternative
do not set it back
simply add an al spacer where the lug was.
no rechambering
Click to expand...

I strongly DO NOT recommend an AL spacer because I feel it's way too soft and compressible/deformable to be used between the shouldered barrel abutment and the action face, but I use a lot of steel ones. And Grade 8 barrel nut conversions, for the same application.

Please note that I'm just talkin' out me butt here, I am not a metallurgist in any way shape matter or form but I HAVE deformed even mild steel ones so I _feel_ pretty strongly about the AL

TIFWIW
 
al,
you and i TORQUE BBLS,
MOST BR SHOOTERS do not, just snug them up.
i think a hard al alloy would do the trick...6061/7075 ??

alinwa said:
I strongly DO NOT recommend an AL spacer because I feel it's way too soft and compressible/deformable to be used between the shouldered barrel abutment and the action face, but I use a lot of steel ones. And Grade 8 barrel nut conversions, for the same application.

Please note that I'm just talkin' out me butt here, I am not a metallurgist in any way shape matter or form but I HAVE deformed even mild steel ones so I _feel_ pretty strongly about the AL

TIFWIW
Click to expand...
 
Again with my butt.....


"Specific Modulus" of steel is 200 whereas AL is under 70 which IMO means that under uni-directional loading steel is nearly 3X more resistant to deflection than AL which (again IMO) means the joint will only be 1/3 as resistant to movement when using AL instead of SS

Of course even the simplest dissension with this view from someone who can show it differently but with numbers/facts will change my worldview immediately.

I'm neither arguing nor supporting my position, just stating it.
 
A friend once had a 222 built on a Remington action without a lug. I looked at the tang when I saw the lug was absent and it had a horseshoe nail driven in the laminated stock against the tang.
 
Reinforcement of the stock at the tang inlet is something I consider mandatory if that area is to be used to absorb the recoil force. Depending on the actions tang shape, I've used round G10, round 7061 and rectangular 7061 with good success. Angling this material through the pistol grip area is a good thing.

You have to take the tang shape into consideration as well so it's not acting as a wedge on the sides and rear corners. A small end mill to relieve the stock corners on a Panda style tang works nicely with at least .020 side clearance on the bedding.

On a bolt in, a front mounted lug is always my first choice.
 
Al Nyhus said:
Reinforcement of the stock at the tang inlet is something I consider mandatory if that area is to be used to absorb the recoil force. Depending on the actions tang shape, I've used round G10, round 7061 and rectangular 7061 with good success. Angling this material through the pistol grip area is a good thing.

You have to take the tang shape into consideration as well so it's not acting as a wedge on the sides and rear corners. A small end mill to relieve the stock corners on a Panda style tang works nicely with at least .020 side clearance on the bedding.

On a bolt in, a front mounted lug is always my first choice.
Click to expand...

Aaaamen to all above!;)RG
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top