Remington 700 Recoil lug question

[DJ Fergus]

I guess since the thread has got off of the original question I will add my thoughts. I do think the thicker recoil lug gives a rifle nice robust looks. And the parallel ground surface is a no brainer. But as far as flex under recoil, its really hard for me to imagine most medium bore rifles flexing a recoil lug .185 thick. But I may be wrong, I've been wrong many times. I don't think anyone has ever proved it. I think Susquatch is dead on as far as having extra relief cut for guys running manual lathes and is probably another reason it became popular with bench rest guys. I have .250, .225 & .0185 recoil lugs. I can't quantify any appreciable difference but then again, I don't shoot bench rest. One benefit I see in thicker tapered recoil lugs is that it gives more surface area to bed around the lug if action torque was a concern due to a situation like a 250 grain 30 cal bullet in a fast 7 or 8 twist barrel. But even then it would be hard to prove such.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Have seen my fair share of bent Rem 700 lugs, granted most are from heavy recoiling cartridges, but not all have been. A few were from measly little 300 magnums.

Cheers.

 

[shortgrass]

So, how do you decide what lug to buy? Measure the length of the barrel tenon from chamber end to the shoulder. Now, with the bolt installed in the action, measure from the face of the action to the front of the lugs on the bolt. Subtract the action measurement from the barrel measurement. Add the needed clearance between the end of the barrel and the bolt and that's how thick the lug should be. Make sure the end of the bolt won't contact the barrel in the counter bore. Now, check the headspace with a gauge. These instructions require the use of a depth micrometer, an outside micrometer and the ability to use both accurately. The interdnet ain't no place to earn about installing barrels to actions. It's not rocket science, but you must have an understanding of "why".

 

[30BR]

Recoil Lugs:
If some is good, more is better.

 

[Susquatch]

This is all getting kinda funny to me. Call me twisted. The English language is horrible. It is so easy to misunderstand what someone else says or writes.

After reading the OPs first post for the first time, I "assumed" he was rechambering and/or rebarreling and was asking how to determine what the best size of recoil lug was for his application and his "build".

I did not assume that he was going to simply remove and replace an existing lug, or even that he wanted to know about any formulas for determining the lug size. As others have said, that's all just math and geometry. In my mind, nobody but a smith like me worries about such things. And we all take such things mostly for granted.

Hence my conclusion that he just wanted to know what size would work best for his combo which he would either specify to his builder and/or use in his build.

At the risk of offending a few people, I really don't think anybody would ever select a recoil lug thickness based on how to adjust headspace. Very few of us have surface grinders that would facilitate doing that. Instead, we buy a lug of whatever thickness we want and then adjust headspace on the lathe when we cut the tenon/shoulder.

In my mind, it's also fairly common knowledge that a factory stamped lug is usually junk, and that a ground precision lug is a significant and inexpensive improvement. The expensive part is all the work required to do that right. There is little point in replacing a recoil lug if the action and barrel shoulder are not trued and squared as well.

That's why my answer focussed on the pros and cons in the choice of lug size as opposed to the measurements, the math, and the geometry.

It would be great if the OP could weigh in and tell us what they really wanted to know so we can answer the question for them and get this thread back on track.

 

[30BR]

Susquatch
Didn't mean to offend. Just wanted to inject some levity. I buy the the parts I want then give them all to someone like you so I don't have to worry about things like "will this work with that".
I know YOU will just make it work!

 

[Susquatch]

Susquatch
Didn't mean to offend. Just wanted to inject some levity. I buy the the parts I want then give them all to someone like you so I don't have to worry about things like "will this work with that".
I know YOU will just make it work!

Absolutely NO offense was taken.

But I'm not gunna respond to your "fatter is better" comment. I just laughed out loud and then decided not to suggest a 3 incher lest someone think I'm serious.

Too funny!

 

[shortgrass]

Sounds to me like the OP has 'parts'. A used barrel and an action, but no lug. He thinks with the proper thickness lug he can just put it all together and go shootin'.

 

[DJ Fergus]

Sounds to me like the OP has 'parts'. A used barrel and an action, but no lug. He thinks with the proper thickness lug he can just put it all together and go shootin'.

This is what I understood the original question to be.

 

[shortgrass]

And then he can fire lap it!

 

[Susquatch]

Sounds to me like the OP has 'parts'. A used barrel and an action, but no lug. He thinks with the proper thickness lug he can just put it all together and go shootin'.

I see.....

Well if you are correct, I would not support doing that. Even if the barrel and action are both from the same serial number rifle, I would not do it without a lot of measurements to make sure its ok. One has to begin by asking why the recoil lug is missing. Are they really the same rifle, etc etc.
One of the biggest mistakes I see people make is swapping Bolts between rifles. Most people think they think they are all the same. Some are, some are not.

Anyway, if you guys are right, I don't support doing that without the appropriate expertise.

 

[ButterBean]

This is all getting kinda funny to me. Call me twisted. The English language is horrible. It is so easy to misunderstand what someone else says or writes.

After reading the OPs first post for the first time, I "assumed" he was rechambering and/or rebarreling and was asking how to determine what the best size of recoil lug was for his application and his "build".

I did not assume that he was going to simply remove and replace an existing lug, or even that he wanted to know about any formulas for determining the lug size. As others have said, that's all just math and geometry. In my mind, nobody but a smith like me worries about such things. And we all take such things mostly for granted.

Hence my conclusion that he just wanted to know what size would work best for his combo which he would either specify to his builder and/or use in his build.

At the risk of offending a few people, I really don't think anybody would ever select a recoil lug thickness based on how to adjust headspace. Very few of us have surface grinders that would facilitate doing that. Instead, we buy a lug of whatever thickness we want and then adjust headspace on the lathe when we cut the tenon/shoulder.

In my mind, it's also fairly common knowledge that a factory stamped lug is usually junk, and that a ground precision lug is a significant and inexpensive improvement. The expensive part is all the work required to do that right. There is little point in replacing a recoil lug if the action and barrel shoulder are not trued and squared as well.

That's why my answer focussed on the pros and cons in the choice of lug size as opposed to the measurements, the math, and the geometry.

It would be great if the OP could weigh in and tell us what they really wanted to know so we can answer the question for them and get this thread back on track.

It looks like the OP is either in time out or got the Axe

 

[Rflshootr]

Have seen my fair share of bent Rem 700 lugs, granted most are from heavy recoiling cartridges, but not all have been. A few were from measly little 300 magnums.

Cheers.

Let me see if I understand your statement......the recoil from a 300 mag bent the recoil lug? Were they factory lugs that were stamped out and never surface ground flat? And what did the recoil lug abutment in the stock look like?
No damage to that?
Was the shoulder of the barrel distorted as well?

 

[DJ Fergus]

Let me see if I understand your statement......the recoil from a 300 mag bent the recoil lug? Were they factory lugs that were stamped out and never surface ground flat? And what did the recoil lug abutment in the stock look like?
No damage to that?
Was the shoulder of the barrel distorted as well?

If the lug was bent, the abutment had to be damaged as well. I've never personally saw that happen. I'm not saying it couldn't happen. Maybe I've been living under a rock.