Recoil lugs

[freebird63]

I was on Defensive Edge website, can someone explain to me the benifit of the recoil lug? Are the ones that Shawn builds that much better then say the ones on a sendero??
If they are that much better then how does one go about replacing one??
Chuck

 

[bigbuck]

I'm not a gunsmith maybe one will chime in shortly. I purchased mine from Shawn . It is noticably thicker than my factory sendero . I would say that it would be one of the cheepest mods while installing a new barrel that you could do . I would further say that it is one of the many links that make a true LR rifle . Just my opinion . You would have to take off your barrel to replace it as it helps connect the action to the barrel .

bigBuck

 

[MTBULLET]

on the guns that I build, I simply "true" the Rem recoil lug on a surface grinder. You can do the same thing with a diamond flat stone if the lug is anywhere near square. The larger lugs I've use in the past didn't "do" anything over the factory, but might be useful for a "bone crusher" recoiling cartridge, but I've built up to the .300 RUM and .375 H&H with the stock one.

 

[J E Custom]

on the guns that I build, I simply "true" the Rem recoil lug on a surface grinder. You can do the same thing with a diamond flat stone if the lug is anywhere near square. The larger lugs I've use in the past didn't "do" anything over the factory, but might be useful for a "bone crusher" recoiling cartridge, but I've built up to the .300 RUM and .375 H&H with the stock one.

+1

I have used almost all of the recoil lugs that are available and found that the factory lugs are
ok to use except for the Savage (It appears to be soft and will bend under heavy recoil) as long
as they are ground flat.

If I find one that is poorly made I will replace it with one that is .200 or .225 thick (The factory
lugs are around .187).

The thicker lugs (Up to 3/8") cause the stock to have to be opened up to much and are no
advantage over the thinner ones.

All recoil lug replacements should be performed by a competent gun smith to assure proper
head space is obtained.

If your going to build a very intense rifle with a lot of recoil and no muzzle break then you may
want to use a thicker one if it makes you feel better.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Chas1]

To answer your question: What's the benefit of a recoil lug. It is to absorb the recoil versus the action/action screws and aid in improved accuracy and consistency.

 

[thunderdawg]

A bit late to the show, but my $.02 worth is if someone has trued the front face of the receiver (and Remington 700s really need this) then making sure that the lug is flat is a good step. Since the recoil lug fits between the receiver face and the barrel shoulder, it is important to have the two lug surfaces parallel to each other. This can be done on a surface grinder but not on a stone. Or, an aftermarket lug that has been surfaced ground would also be ok. Stoning the two recoil lug sides would only get the two sides flat but not necessarily parallel to each other. The last step is to be sure the barrel shoulder is also square to the bore.
Maybe this will help future searchers.