Do you guys torque your action screws...or is that too anal?

I was told by an old stockmaker to torque the action screws on wood stocks to 45 in-lb and on pillar bedded stocks to 65 in-lb.

Tried the 45in-# on a wood stock last night and it seemed way too tight, so I backed it off to 40.

What's your experience/recommendation?

Assume it's a bolt-action gun with two action screws, glass bedded, free floated barrel.

Front one is about as tight as I can get it.

Back one is about half that tight.

Works for me....

i run 'em in until i feel things start to tighten up then i'll go just enough more to snug 'em so they wont fall out. i guess it's more by feel for me.

I've been doing what MikeG said for better than 45 years with great results. Unless a rifle is piller bedded wood stocks are all a little flexible. I haven't enough experience with plastic stocks to tell you about them. I just do the same thing as I do with wood stocks.

Yup - often wondered what the recommended torque would be for stock screws, but as Bob says, new/old, wood/synthetic, bedded/non-bedded - all have peculiar traits.

As above, my method is to run the screws in until a slight resistance, then the front screw is ratcheted to a moderate firm feel, then the rear screw brought to the same feel, then the front gets torqued to "stop" feel. The butt gets tapped on the cushioned floor with a moderate bump, then the screws checked again.