Has anyone ever read or done studies on recoil lug thickness. I know a thicker lug is stiffer but has a standard thickness lug 700 style been proven to flex under recoil?
Recoil lug thickness studies
- Thread starter Coldfinger
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MagnumManiac
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They don't just flex…they bend!
Have personally seen this and a .250" recoil lug is the minimum I use on any custom, even a 17 Remington. I pin all lugs to the action and they require meat to affix correctly.
A 300RUM in a flimsy SPS stock will almost certainly bend a lug over time if it's not solidly bedded correctly.
Cheers.
Varmint Hunter
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I'd suspect that recoil lug "hardness" may be just as important as thickness. Maybe some of the gunsmiths here could comment on this.
nksmfamjp
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Interesting. How did you prove that to yourself?
Cheezie
Active Member
Hardening a lug will allow it to withstand a higher recoil strain before it yields (bends permanently) but will not make the lug significantly stiffer. The only straightforward way to increase lug stiffness is to thicken it.
MagnumManiac
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Working on many REM 700's with cheap flimsy stocks…and I'm not the only one to find .185-.187" recoil lugs to bend.
A properly sized recoil lug should be used on all builds starting with .250" and going up to .300" thick and beyond depending on cartridge size. It is good insurance on keeping everything square and true to the centre of the bore.
Cheers.
M1A1ABRAMS
Well-Known Member
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ntsqd
Well-Known Member
Bending stiffness is set by two things, the Young's Modulus of the material and the shape of the part in question. Unfortunately, the Young's Modulus (or Modulus of Elasticity) for steel is all about the same regardless of the alloy or the Heat-Treat. It varies a little, but not enough.
Use a different material for the lug. The severely weight conscious would heartily embrace a carbon fiber recoil lug, but it will take some clever thinking to handle the compression on it in the current barrel/action interface.
Could also bring some geometry into the design to make the existing material behave in a stiffer manner. One way to do this would be to actually shorten the lug. While doing that may have other, undesirable downsides it will make the lug stiffer. In a metal chassis and possibly with a metal bedding block I'd suggest that you don't need the lug to be the factory length. Basically you're shortening the length of the lever that the recoil has to bend the lug with.
Use a different material for the lug. The severely weight conscious would heartily embrace a carbon fiber recoil lug, but it will take some clever thinking to handle the compression on it in the current barrel/action interface.
Could also bring some geometry into the design to make the existing material behave in a stiffer manner. One way to do this would be to actually shorten the lug. While doing that may have other, undesirable downsides it will make the lug stiffer. In a metal chassis and possibly with a metal bedding block I'd suggest that you don't need the lug to be the factory length. Basically you're shortening the length of the lever that the recoil has to bend the lug with.
Harry Knutz
Well-Known Member
Oversized lugs are a gimmick, Look at the lugs on a Sako TRG 42 or any Tikka, They flat shoot and the lugs are minimal, I think Remingtons are boring, But I have barreled a bunch of them and installed oversized lugs. The more important thing is being precision ground. The factory lug is very substantial. One of the more famous Gunsmiths even said Oversized lugs are not necessary, I can't remember which one it was though.
A properly torqued(tight!) action that makes good contact and a lug seated firmly to the rear of the slot will give you zero issues! Old wood and flimsy compressible stocks give recoil lugs a bad name. If the fit up is solid and the screws can be tightened up rock solid there's no need for a bigger lug. Guys ***** footing around with actions loose in there stocks can create impact forces on the lug and that will add up to trouble. I swear to good I get rifles that come into my work shop with finger tight screws. I have no idea what their theory is 
I agree. I have 4 Tikkas all with multiple barrel changes and every one is still running the original factory style lug. They are in aluminum bedding blocks but still, the lugs are in great condition. Only a small amount of mechanical locking is necessary. Anything more is up selling and fluff.
