Action screw torque question

[bigbossman]

I'm prepping my Winchester Model 70 for pillar bedding. I know that Winchester specs 35in/lbs for a non-bedded action, and my question is should I stick with that or torque to a higher value?

[MongooseV8]

Id go higher on a pillar bedded setup but each rifle will like different settings. Sometimes they even like the front and rear to be different. Best you can do is find a load it likes then play around with your screws.

[slamfire1]

I'm prepping my Winchester Model 70 for pillar bedding. I know that Winchester specs 35in/lbs for a non-bedded action, and my question is should I stick with that or torque to a higher value?

Damn, when did tightening action screws require a torque wrench?

I tighten by hand, luckily I am not so strong that I will strip a thread or screw with a screw driver.

Now, if I were to use a torque wrench I would not exceed the 35 inch pound factory recommendation as you don't know if the action threads will take more.

[Sig Marine]

Damn, when did tightening action screws require a torque wrench?

Some stocks and chassis will improve a rifle's accuracy when a barreled action is torqued to a particular value; sometimes the front and rear values are different. Using a torque wrench will help you test and find those values and insure that when removing and replacing the barreled action it can be returned to those values and shoot the same as it did before removal.

['ol shooter]

I have my Savage 12 at 40 with 1/4 28 threads, 35 would be fine.

[slamfire1]

Some stocks and chassis will improve a rifle's accuracy when a barreled action is torqued to a particular value; sometimes the front and rear values are different. Using a torque wrench will help you test and find those values and insure that when removing and replacing the barreled action it can be returned to those values and shoot the same as it did before removal.

Such things are well within the central error probable of any hand held rifle I shoot.

I will bet wind drift is a greater source of inaccuracy.

[bigbossman]

Such things are well within the central error probable of any hand held rifle I shoot.

I will bet wind drift is a greater source of inaccuracy.

Yeah, well....... I paid good money for a torque wrench, and I'm damn well gonna get my moneys worth out of it.

[slamfire1]

Yeah, well....... I paid good money for a torque wrench, and I'm damn well gonna get my moneys worth out of it.

Let he who has not acted similarly, throw the first torque wrench!

[LynnJr]

If your seeing large swings in accuracy due to the torque on the action screws the bedding is bad.

[bigbossman]

If your seeing large swings in accuracy due to the torque on the action screws the bedding is bad.

Good to know, but I don't think it'll be an issue......I did a damn fine job on the bedding, if I say so myself.

[BillyGoatMachine]

Lynn speaks the truth. If you find your rifle shoots different from changing the torque values then your fitment between the action and stock is lacking. Improper bedding will cause your action to bend and torque, changing the way it shoots.

[bigbossman]

Lynn speaks the truth. If you find your rifle shoots different from changing the torque values then your fitment between the action and stock is lacking. Improper bedding will cause your action to bend and torque, changing the way it shoots.

Haven't shot it yet, but I torqued it to 35 in/lbs as recommended by Winchester. I don't anticipate trying different torque settings, but if I do I'll report back with results.

As an aside - I bedded the rear tang and the forward lug area to include back towards the magazine box/pillar flat and about an inch forward on the barrel shank. The action rests squarely on the 9/16" aluminum pillars front and back, and the barrel is free floated all the way back to the taper. Both pillar areas are fully bedded and the action fits snugly at those points. Pillar bore holes were drilled oversized so that the pillars did not touch the stock or bind when inserted before bedding compound was applied. I suppose it is possible to screw up a bedding job, but it does seem fairly straightforward..... if not a bit time-consuming on the prep side of things.

[slamfire1]

If your seeing large swings in accuracy due to the torque on the action screws the bedding is bad.

Ain't that the truth.

It is very easy to bend a receiver. One of the worst, in my experience, is the 1903 Springfield. The action screws are not parallel for one thing, they more or less, point in an arc. Then the rear tang is tiny, about the size of a chiclet chewing gum tablet, and that compresses the wood in a very short time.



There are very few 03's out that where the action is not bowed, the barrel instead of touching the forend at the upper band, the barrel is not touching wood, but has several pounds of pressure on the upper band loop.

I will claim, that pillar bedding is critical for long term bedding stability on wooden stocks. I have one stock, bedded at least twenty years, maybe 30 years ago, did not pillar bed, and the wood between the action and trigger guard has compressed. The action is bowed, the barrel it making contact in the forend, and overall, I need to rebed the thing.

Pillar bedding does not have to be aluminum. I have drilled through holes, about 1/2 or more in diameter, where the action screws are, filled the void with Devcon steel particle, or bisonite, and let dry

Remington 700 stock



then routed a god awful amount of wood



and poured in more epoxy.

this is a Ruger

[bigbossman]

Ain't that the truth.

It is very easy to bend a receiver. One of the worst, in my experience, is the 1903 Springfield.

I've never done a 1903 Springfield, but I did a Garand once. That one was a bitch!

Another one that surprised me with its difficulty is the modern Mossberg Patriot.... but that is because it is a crappy design, and has about 1" of free space between the plastic magazine box and the rear action, and you have to cut a U shaped notch in the pillar to clear the rear of the trigger. What a piss-poor design.

[slamfire1]

I've never done a 1903 Springfield, but I did a Garand once. That one was a bitch!

I completely did one Garand, and refreshed the bedding on another and several NM M1a's. To match configure a Garand is timing consuming and the bedding is very difficult. It was more difficult with the old epoxy glues, which had the consistency of honey. I looked for the TM, but I have an old Tech Manual in which the AMU shows how they bedded the M14 action, and it was written back in the 1960's. They had to route channels in the stock sidewalls so the glue would not pour out. Now, with the thick, peanut butter epoxies, you just leave the outer wood sidewall in place because the glue will stay in place.

My Ruger M77 was difficult to bed, and it was primarily due to the angled front action screw.











You can access the many reviews when the M77 was introduced, all those shill inprint writers claiming the angled action screw was a superior method of attaching the receiver to the stock because it "pulled" the action tight. The shills were just quoting marketing, that angled action screw is worse than the 90 degree recoil lug of standard rifles. An unbedded Ruger action will slide in the stock as that action screw won't hold the action inplace, and it makes bedding the rifle difficult and time consuming.