Shim in recoil lug slot

[Bidwell]

That would be true in most cases however the bolt being in the recoil lug means that the action will deflect under torque unless the bottom of the lug is supported as well

The correct thing to do here is wrap the barrel with tape to establish the correct clearance and bed the front of the action including under the lug

Interesting. What do you think would be the consequences of the lug torqueing?Accuracy issues or any damage to the rifle? I consulted with a local gunsmith and he sounded OK with the shim method.

 

[Castle Rock]

Yes, what you have done will work, but as TP said the small contact surface may be an issue over time

 

[Bidwell]

Please keep us updated with what you try and what works.

I ended up shimming the lug channel and the space behind the channel with .025 inch aluminum pieces. That worked great for the free floating. I put just a small dab of epoxy on them so I can pretty easily pry them off if needed without damaging the stock. The weather is bad right now but managed to shoot about 7 rounds before the rain started again in my little local blm spot up the road. I could only shoot about 30 yards since it was so foggy. So far so good, albeit with a very limited test. At least its not spraying bullets. Everything is in a nice little group.

When I first shot this rifle during the break in period, I was extremely off paper from where my little laser point bore sight device was pointing. I sort of assumed It was due to the constant cleaning, bad ammo, new rifle and barrel not floating. Or some scope issue. Turns out it was my muzzle brake. My first shot fired today, I couldn't even find where it hit. I took took the muzzle brake off and it's pretty much dead on where the laser points. Anyone ever experience that? It must be over a foot, maybe more, left or right and up and down from point of aim. It's my first muzzle brake but this can't be normal. The guy I bought it off of has a great reputation. It's a custom made brake he designs for this rifle.

 

[Bidwell]

Please keep us updated with what you try and what works.

Update: I ended up also placing a shim on the edge of the recoil lug well since I could feel the action shift forward and back a little. The fit on this stock is rough but I can't wait 6 months for howa to fix it. That's the turnaround time I was quoted. And, I knew this was going to be a project rifle, the stock issues are well documented on forums and YT. Anyway, I've gotten it to shoot in my "best case scenario" expectations, with a lot of room for improvement still. I'm consistently shooting 1-1.5 moa 5-7 shot groups. It shoots great when you keep technique very consistent, which im working on. Even with the stock problems, I really, really like this rifle. You can feel how accurate it can be. The trigger is also also very heavy. It's a quality trigger and I like its but probably about 4 pounds or more, it almost feels like my shotgun. I've ordered a jard trigger and a trigger pull scale to get accurate numbers. I looked into timney but their standard 1500 action trigger will not fit the superlite. The heaviest jard trigger for the superlite is 16-20 oz, which maybe a little light but those are my options. Still debating if I should pillar bed or not. It's shooting well as is and don't want to screw anything up.

 

[Macintosh]

I think the “rules of thumb” (ie you have to leave space under recoil lug) are based entirely on rem 700 and similar recoil lugs. Yours is clearly different, so the same rules may not apply. In general if tightening the un-shimmed action caused the action to torque down into the stock and resulted in barrel contact, then thats precisely what bedding would solve.

(Disclaimer—I dont have a howa and have not worked on one). In your case bedding or a shim under the lug looks to me like the functional equivalent of a pillar on the action screw in a rem700/tikka/etc—you always support with full contact directly under the action screws with a non-compressable material so that neither action screw creates any torque on the action or barrel. The lug on yours is also angled on the front surface specifically so it wont bind as the action lifts out of the stock. If it were my gun, looking at how its configured and hearing how your shim helped, I’d 150% plan to have that thing bedded asap, WITHOUT any tape under or behind the lug.

That said I might not do too much if it has significant problems (bedding but also brake/threading as well as trigger). Even diy you could wind up with a expensive problem. I would not own a 16oz trigger on anything but a target-only gun, and a brake acting like that could be the brake or it could be bad muzzle threads. If its a keeper, great, fix it all…just worth considering.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

Early on in my stock making ( in the 1950's), there was no such thing as glass bedding. Lots of time I had to tinker with bedding to get the gun to shoot good groups. Depended a lot on the density of the wood, design of the recoil lug and caliber. I always had the bottom of the recoil lug in contact with the wood especially if I floated the barrel.

Once good glass bedding was available, I always fully surrounded the recoil lug (front, back, sides and bottom with plenty of squeeze out. Just sayin................

 

[Bidwell]

I think the “rules of thumb” (ie you have to leave space under recoil lug) are based entirely on rem 700 and similar recoil lugs. Yours is clearly different, so the same rules may not apply. In general if tightening the un-shimmed action caused the action to torque down into the stock and resulted in barrel contact, then thats precisely what bedding would solve.

(Disclaimer—I dont have a howa and have not worked on one). In your case bedding or a shim under the lug looks to me like the functional equivalent of a pillar on the action screw in a rem700/tikka/etc—you always support with full contact directly under the action screws with a non-compressable material so that neither action screw creates any torque on the action or barrel. The lug on yours is also angled on the front surface specifically so it wont bind as the action lifts out of the stock. If it were my gun, looking at how its configured and hearing how your shim helped, I’d 150% plan to have that thing bedded asap, WITHOUT any tape under or behind the lug.

That said I might not do too much if it has significant problems (bedding but also brake/threading as well as trigger). Even diy you could wind up with a expensive problem. I would not own a 16oz trigger on anything but a target-only gun, and a brake acting like that could be the brake or it could be bad muzzle threads. If its a keeper, great, fix it all…just worth considering.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I forgot to mention the muzzle brake issue has been resolved. Looks like they accidentally sent me a 7mm brake, so the clearance was scary close to the diameter of a 308 bullet, that could of been a disaster. They fixed it and now that's working great. I'll take it to my gunsmith and see what he says about the bedding. Ill see how the trigger feels, 16oz is too light for me as well but 20oz might be alright. I may call jard to see if they can send me a spring for 24oz or more. I guess thats the only difference with their various weight options. Thanks again.

 

[Bidwell]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. I forgot to mention the muzzle brake issue has been resolved. Looks like they accidentally sent me a 7mm brake, so the clearance was scary close to the diameter of a 308 bullet, that could of been a disaster. They fixed it and now that's working great. I'll take it to my gunsmith and see what he says about the bedding. Ill see how the trigger feels, 16oz is too light for me as well but 20oz might be alright. I may call jard to see if they can send me a spring for 24oz or more. I guess thats the only difference with their various weight options. Thanks again.

Wanted to ask if mi or stress on a receiver can cause damage. I doubt the the stress on the receiver is significant since my shims are pretty darn thin (.025 inches) but just curious.

 

[Castle Rock]

Not on a tubular receiver like the Howa but you can bend the tang on something like a Mauser