Savage recoil lug??

Hi,

I am pretty new here and new to gunsmithing. I am putting together my first savage, and have enjoyed the wealth of information I have found on this site. I was wondering why it is that everyone replaces the recoil lugs on their rifles. I realize that the factory ones may not be perfectly flat, but if the rear of the lug is bedded anyway, why would that matter? I have no problem buying a new lug, but am just wondering if there is any improvement in accuracy over the factory lug? I am sorry if this is a dumb question and thanks for the help!

The factory lug, as you already know, is not flat and can vary by as much as .009". If your going to go through the trouble of rebarreling your rifle, why not use a flat machined lug to insure solid and even engagement with the recoil shoulder. A dead flat lug also insures that the barrel nut makes solid contact around it's perifery.

The last Savage I bought for a donor action was a 30/06. The recoil lug had bent so badly it put the barrel nut in a bind and I had to dremel it off. No way I'll use a factory lug on anything larger than a .223.