I have heard that there is really no need to consider crossbolting a rifle stock until you get to 416 and bigger. However, there are a lot of 375s that do. So, when is it a good idea to crossbolt??? And although there may not be a need to crossbolt a stock for a 375, why wouldn't you just for insurance sake? Maybe it would prevent a crack from appearing 10 years down the road that may have otherwise happenned. Is it a cosmetic issue, accuracy, are there any drawbacks, or is it just plain preference?

I would always use a crossbolt (or two) on walnut-stocked rifles larger than .300 magnum. When properly executed, they 'soak up' quite a bit of the punishment from the recoil.

George

just the thought of the man that MADE the bolt action...

ALL m98's are crossbolted....

jeffe

If you glass bed a 375 or 416 you will not need a crossbolt..however I have crossbolts in my 375 and 416 just to be safe, the 375 is bedded wood, and the 416 is glassed full length.....but I shot them both for several years without crossbolts and the 375 is an old English gun and it never split...Cross bolts really come into play on the 458 and up IMO...

On a factory rifle in any big bore you need to glass or crossbolt them and both is preferable IMO..The wood is seldom fully cured and prone to shrinkage, which causes a gap and the recoil works on that gap and splits the stock, also the bedding of factory stocks is normally less than desirable IMO....

Ray

I have heard that with CZ�s crossbolts are a must. My father-in-law has a stock CZ 550-FS in 9.3x62 that has two crossbolts! Is his gun just over engineered? I plan to glass bed My new CZ 550 .375 the full length of the wood as soon as it gets in, should I consider crossbolts or just wait and see what it needs?



Of course when I rebarrel it next year to .404 I will have to clean out the glass and redo the job. With the .404 are crossbolts needed?

Ok, so I decided I am going to crossbolt, but now do I use 1 or 2?

Actions such as the Sako and Mausers have the action recoil lug bearing on the cross bolt. This is done to effectively increase the area of the recoil lug as these actions have very small recoil lugs.

Actions such as M70 and Rem 700 that have cross bolts do so to avoid stock splitting from the stock "ballooning out" under recoil and do not have the action recoil lug bearing on the cross bolt and ditto for Weatherby. In 375 this is not a problem. In terms of the stock material between the trigger and magazine box then probably a 270 can use a cross bolt. Not sure about the current rifles but Rem 700 BDL did have a bronze screw through the wood between the trigger and magazine box on the small calibres and Weatherby also has a screw epozied into that wood area.

On the need for recoil lugs on the barrel in my opinion the M70 and Rem 700 don't need it up to 458 Win, if the action is bedded. Weatbery has the big recoil lug but not much stock material behind the recoil lug, kind of like a Mauser.

The Rem 700 has the biggest recoil lug and the most stock material behind the recoil lug.

Mike

I have read in a number of places of the stocks on CZ 550�s larger than 9.3x63 having problems with the stock cracking. The stated fix is to glass the rifle and add crossbolts in guns 375 and bigger. Is this a true problem or just a good excuse to keep gunsmiths working?

Yes.

ditto

Yes? To being a real problem, or to keeping gunsmith working? Maybe both???

You have to keep in mind that most medium and large bore rifles aren't shot enough to crack the stocks. Also, there are huge differences in the strength of wood, from species to species, and within species, heck within the same tree. I wouldn't be the least suprised if an extremely dense piece of Turkish walnut that had a glass beaded 416 rem mag would take the recoil with no ill effects.

My personal thought is, cross bolt on 375 and up, and second recoil lug on the barrel of 458 Lott and up. I put a cross bolt on my 350 Rigby, I'd put too much time in the stock to risk loosing it to recoil. I machined a cross bolt out of 3/8-16 allthread, and put ebony plugs on the oustside of the stock, which nicely contrast the ebony forend tip.

Prewar70,

The late Finn Aagaard, Kenyan PH and writer for the NRA magazines, did shoot his Model 70 .375 more than most of us will and he commented in his book that he had to add crossbolts due to stock splitting. On more than one .375 that he owned.

My own experience is my Model 70 .375 split the stock between the recoil lug and the magazine box cutout and was repaired with an internal crossbolt that was glass bedded into place. This was on a factory stock. I feel that if a 375 is going to be a shooter, it should be crossbolted behind the lug. Internal or external is a matter of personal preference.

Just to continue the discussion, what about a .375 H&H Model 70 Classic in a Boyds, laminated, JRS stock? Does it need a cross bolt or just "Steel Bed"?

Thanks

B.Doerr - my model 70 also cracked the stock behind the action recoil lug into the magazine box. I added an extra barrel mounted recoil lug, added two crossbolts and acraglassed the entire action area to include out the forearm to approximately two inches in front of the (new) recoil lug. Much better now - KMule

Redlander - a hunting buddy told me this past week of his co-workers new ruger 338 win mag with laminated stock cracking - so you may want to consider at a minimum glass bedding the action into the stock- oh heck, make a project out of this one and double cross bolt it while you are at it - KMule