Lug setback? What am I missing?

Yes, it is kind of hard to grasp an equation that calculates forces placed on a bolt and lugs (and ultimately my sore shoulder) that doesnt take into account bullet weight and speed. Lets stipulate that the equation is right and the PSI and case head diameter are the same......the force on the bolt is the same. The kinetic energy of 8000 ft lbs and 4300 ft lbs is NOT the same ....so explain how the extra energy of recoil is NOT transferred through the bolt and lugs.

Recoil is not just an effect of the ignition in the chamber. Think about all the gasses and the projectile traveling down the barrel. Since they are moving away from you and you are holding a stationary object there are rearward linear forces imparted on the barrel that are then transferred to the recoil lug and action body.
 
Recoil is not just an effect of the ignition in the chamber. Think about all the gasses and the projectile traveling down the barrel. Since they are moving away from you and you are holding a stationary object there are rearward linear forces imparted on the barrel that are then transferred to the recoil lug and action body.
So....the force on the bolt is the same in both the 460Wby and the 30-378 Wby (per the f= area x PSI equation), but the extra 3700 ft lbs of energy of the 460 is transferred to the back end through the recoil lug and the action body. Thanks. That makes the most sense so far. I always thought the opposite reaction to the muzzle energy to the butt pad was going through the bolt face.
 
If case head sizes and pressures are the same then the bolt body and lugs face the same forces. A larger projectile along with more gasses leaving the barrel would cause a larger felt recoil.
 
If case head sizes and pressures are the same then the bolt body and lugs face the same forces. A larger projectile along with more gasses leaving the barrel would cause a larger felt recoil.
Yeah, I get the bullet and gases making felt recoil. The bottom line is that if you stay under around 60,000 psi loads the bolt and lugs can handle it.....even with an 8000 ft lb muzzle energy round. Thanks again.
 
ugh, the force is exerted in "pounds per square inch"-- when the size of the bolt face is increased then its "square inches"(area) goes up so the force goes up--its a fairly simple calculation but thats why I posted the Wikipedia link to show the actual factual data of the force exerted on the bolt face/lugs for different bolt face sizes/cartridges

the chamber pressure is not 62000 pounds, its 62000 pounds PER SQUARE INCHES-- so if you had a bolt face of 2 square inches the force would be 124000 pounds, but with a bolt face of only 1 square inch then the force is only 62000 pounds


I'm coming late to the party, and this sort of summarises all the things said here that I don't understand.


Chamber pressure is one thing. Pressure on the bolt face is another. How do you take a gas pressure, which is what the cartridge psi rating is, and make it equivalent to a surface pressure.


The psi rating of the cartridge is not the force against the bolt face. Cartridge pressure and force on the bolt are not related that way.


If the force is transferred to the lugs, the bolt face area is not important, it's the lug area of contact that matters.


When you have larger lugs, or more of them, it spreads the force out more [ less contact pressure, not less chamber pressure ], which is why heavy recoil calibers have bigger lug area, and why Weatherby bolts have so many lugs.


This force on the lugs that is spread out more is all taken up by the action, but at the points of contact of the lugs, the pressure is less per unit area with larger lugs, so as not to overwhelm the tensile stress of the steel.


To refer to Kirby, "The larger the case head size, the lower the breaking point in chamber pressure will be for any receiver" cannot be real, because then our 24 inch battleship guns would have to run at 100 psi.

A .223 has a much higher ratio of lug area to bolt face than a .338 Lapua. That is why it can handle higher chamber pressure before overcoming the tensile stress of the steel.

It does not make the .223 receiver stronger than a .338 Lapua receiver, or the force on a .223 bolt more than on a .338 Lapua.
 
a larger bolt face is a larger surface area therefore has a larger force exerted on it , not sure how else to explain it

Totally incorrect.

A pressure of 50,000 psi means 50,000 pounds of force over one square inch.

If you apply 50,000 pounds of force over 2 square inches, it is not 100,000 psi, it is 25,000 psi.

By that logic, if I put a .223 cartridge in the chamberof a tank barrel, and fire it, does the tank blow up ?
 
62000 psi is pounds per square inch so the amount of force is dependent upon the area it exerts the force over-- a .470" bolt face is .1735 square inches -- a .585 bolt face is .2712 square inches, soooo at 62000 pounds per square inch you would take 62000 x .1735 = 10757 pounds of force for the .470" bolt face---BUT 62000x .2712 would be 16814 pounds of force for the larger .585" bolt face---make sense now?

62,000 psi against a .585 bolt face or on a .470 bolt face or on a 2" bolt face is still 62,000 psi. On it's own, it cannot be used for calculating bolt thrust.

62000 pounds of force over 0.1735 square inches is 357,348 psi.

62000 pounds over 0.2712 square inches is 228,613 psi.
 
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Yes. But we are not starting with a force, then going to area, we have force per unit area already. It is 62000 psi. The size of the case is not relevant, a small case can have the same pressure as a large case, the small case does not need the bigger action.
 
psi is a very specific measurement. pounds per square inch. its pressure. it is not pounds on the bolt face.

You can apply 62000 psi to one square yard, or a pinhead, it's still 62000 psi.

Cartridge psi does not mean force on the bolt head, because we know that the amount of steel on the action is there to deal with force, and there is much more steel on a 50BMG action than there is on a .223, but the .223 runs higher pressure, so pressure on it's own does not determine force on the bolt.

ie : you can't determine force on a bolt from a pressure number on it's own.
 
So long as you have 2 of the variables you can calculate the other. So knowing that if you know your pressure and the surface area of the bolt face/case head then you can determine the force that's applied
 
Fill up a 1"x1' long PVC pipe with 100psi of air, and another 1"x100' long pipe and tell me which makes the bigger boom...it's all about volume...the only thing the equations listed don't account for. It's not just a simple one step calculation.
 
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