Recoil lug allingment

Today I just finished a rebuild on my m12 action. I installed a pac-nor barrel with a nss recoil lug. Upon final torquing and instillation into a mcree g5tmag it appears my recoil lug is canted perhaps a degree or two in the chassis. The barrel has more than enough clearance. Do I need to worry about the lug sitting slightly off centered? It appears to be making good contact on the recoiling face of the lug as best I can tell. Recoil lug face to chassis appears to be good it's just the angle in relation to the vertical if that makes sense
Thanks for the help
Chris

It only matters, if you think it does.

Here is a tip to "see" how well your recoil lug faces the action lug stop/shelf.

On the side of the lug that interfaces to the action lug stop/shelf attach 1/16" "beads" of clay (like you'd use when you bed the action - plumbers putty can also work). Place 4-5 in a square or X pattern across the lug face like this... (essentially on the outside corners)

| ( barrel is here )

| o........................o |


| o........................0 |
|__________________|


replace and torque as usual, then remove. You should "see" those tiny putty balls "squished" (flattened) to a paper-thin consistency. If you "see" any of the four which are slightly thicker than any of the others, your recoil lug interface is whacked and you should have the lug replaced with one that is true, or bed the lug (and why not just do the whole action while you are at it?).

Sounds like I've got a project for today. Thank you for the help

When you have everything apart try swinging the beam from a flush fitting machinist's square. If you have any tight spots or loose spots you can normally see the gaps or feel the tight areas. Best way forward then is to have the front of the action squared. Don't forget to verify the proper fit on the recoil lug alignment pin.

I have seen customers assemble their short action Centerfeed Action using the Wheeler Action Wrench and have the interference between the cap on the Wheeler wrench bend or break the alignment pin on the NSS Recoil Lug. Look and make sure the alignment pin is not bent.

Jim Briggs
NSS

Mr Briggs
Are you talking about checking the face of the action with the square? I don't have a machinist square yet. When I did the final check the lug pin didn't look bent or in any way out of place. I torqued the nut to 40 ft lb for the final install. Do you feel that could be enough to damage the lug?
Chris

Chris,
40 ft. lb. is not too tight at all. We normally suggest 45 to 50 ft. lb. as the minimum. The alignment pin on the recoil lug has to have .003" to .005" clearance beyond the depth of the alignment pin on the recoil lug. I have seen several actions where a Savage stamping on the bottom of the receiver has pushed metal up into the alignment pin notch. Without the additional clearance, the recoil lugs can be held off contact due to lack of additional depth on the receiver notch. This "off contact" does not allow the recoil lug to fit flush up against the face of the receiver.

If required, use the edge of a file to remove the burrs that create the overly tight side clearance as well as to create adequate notch depth.

Jim Briggs
NSS