How Much Torque on action screws

E

ehkempf

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I have several rifles I want to get setup for “Groundhog Shoot” use. Two of them are Remington 700’s; one a VLS and the other a VLSS. Both with the factory laminate stock. I am going to have both of them pillar and glass bedded. What is the usually recommended amount of torque that should be applied to the actions screws?

I also have a Remington 40-XB KS that I had re-barreled, and at the same time had pillars installed and had it re-glass bedded. Since the stock material is not wood or a laminate, how much torque should be applied?

Thanks,

Ed
 
Since they are pillar bedded, I'd torque them TIGHT! Since pillars are not compressable, why would it make any difference if they are 60 pounds or 160 pounds??

Ray
 
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Cheechako said:
Since they are pillar bedded, I'd torque them TIGHT! Since pillars are not compressable, why would it make any difference if they are 60 pounds or 160 pounds??

Ray
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I understand that the pillars will not compress, but are you still not putting some amount of pressure on the action if you over torque. Use the example you gave, 60 lb/in might be ok but 160 lb/in might be excessive, lots of pressure on the threads.

Ed
 
What is to be gained by anything tighter than tight... which 60 inch pounds certainly is.

Anyone demonstrate a positive difference?
 
Ed

First of all, I used the numer "160" figuratively, not literally. What I meant was, as long as the screws are tight, does it really matter what the exact torqe is? If your action has been pillared correctly, there should not be any uneven pressure on the action. That's the whole idea behind pillars.

Ray
 
I just had two Remington 700 short action rifles glass bedded (and a couple of other things done). The gunsmith recommended 50 inch pounds on the front and 25 inch pounds on the rear screws. Both rifles had aluminium bedding blocks, but I don't see this being different to aluminium pillars in terms of appropriate torque.

The gunsmith noted that both front screws were only engaging a couple of threads in the receiver. New (longer) rear screws were cut to suit to provide better engagement in the front of the receiver. You don't want to go torquing down the action so tight that you strip the thread out of the action.
 
bjld said:
I just had two Remington 700 short action rifles glass bedded (and a couple of other things done). The gunsmith recommended 50 inch pounds on the front and 25 inch pounds on the rear screws. Both rifles had aluminium bedding blocks, but I don't see this being different to aluminium pillars in terms of appropriate torque.
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Why the different torque setting, what is the theory behind that. I would think that equal amounts of pressure would be better.

Ed
 
A friend once told me that the military test fires rifles starting at 45# in 5# steps, loosening and re-tightening for each trial, working up to a limit of 60#. Evidently the settings that work best vary from rifle to rifle. As to the upper limit, I have read that the aluminum bottom metal that comes from the factory does not stand up well to the 65# upper limit that gets mentioned from time to time. Part of this is probably because of the tapered seating surface and screw heads have a spreading effect. I certainly would make sure that the action screws were long enough to engage the available threads. This usually involves some trimming to get the exact fit wanted, starting with longer screws. It also bears mentioning that I think it a good idea to install the screws with very little tension, and then stand the rifle on its butt for the real tightening so that the recoil lug is firm against the back of its mortise. I like to tighten in steps, starting at the front and then alternating until the desired torque is reached. Factory actions lack bedding area which can allow them to move around from shot to shot, which is detrimental to accuracy, Because pillars allow higher torque without distorting bedding, higher unit loading of the bedding surfaces may be safely achieved, significantly increasing friction with a proportional decrease in movement that benefits accuracy. I know that this is quite a bit more than the answer to how tight, but I thought that adding the additional information wouldn't hurt, and that it might give readers that have not been quite up to speed on the subject have a better a understanding.
 
I can't imagine torquing an action to even 60 in/lb ... all my stuff shoots best from 25 to 40 in/lb and most at around 35. The most accurate of all is glued-in, which has no action stress at all. Once the action in seated into the bedding and/or snugged against the pillars, I see no need to place any more stress on the action. We're not torquing lug nuts here!
 
Ok then, why is my Panda glued in the stock if torque varies on screwed in actions? Aint glued in about as tight as you could get it. Or is it just a different animal?
 
Reed, you answered my question while I was posting it, no stress. It spreads the torque over the whole action and not just two points?
 
The old method of tightening the front and rear screws to different "tightness" only applies to wood stocks where there is a strong liklihood of compressing the wood. Ed's rifles have pillars, so torque becomes a moot point.

Ray
 
There are torgue wrench's, and then there are torque wrenchs' Trying to read in/lbs with a ft/lbs is not the way to go. I find a long shank allan wrench with flex as good a wrench as any. Who comes up with these figures, and what are they based on
 
I would say that both the long allen wrench method and a good in/lb torque wrench would be good.

Anschutz supplies an allen wrench that is about 6-8 inches long. You snug the screw and then position the rifle vertical. Install the wrench and tighten the socket head screw until you pick up the rifle with the wrench. Provides for a consistent applied torque.

With aluminum pillars and a torque wrench, I set the screw tension at 40-50 in/lbs. More torque on screws just places more stress on the action. Plus, action screws are typically 1/4x28 and they are not designed to take a lot of torque. Check out a machinist's handbook.

Just my .02.

Bob
 
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