Originally Posted by
Hotolds442
Dennis, a thicker recoil lug does NOT change the space between the bolt head and barrel on a Savage rifle that uses a barrel nut. The relationship between the bolt head and the breech face DOES NOT change, no matter how thick the recoil lug is unless you run out of threads.
The information you're passing on applies to barrels with tenons on them, which ARE affected by lug thickness.
Since the lug goes between the barrel nut and the action, and the barrel nut screws up tight against the lug, why would the relationship between the breechface and the bolt head change? Draw it on paper if you're having a hard time grasping the concept. You could put a 4" thick recoil lug on the barrel if you had enough threads, and the barrel would still headspace in the exact same spot.
All of the barrels I've checked tonight have enough threads from the factory to run at least a .375 lug with threads left over.