This question has always got me wondering, just how tight to you tighten action screws on a rifle which has a front screw and a tang screw, and then screws like the Model 70 Winchester with a front and rear and one in the middle. On other forums I have read that you tighten the back (tank) screw first, then go for the front one. I have also read where you begin with the front screw and then go to the back. There also have been threads where you tighten the front almost all the way and then go to the back and tighten it fully, then go back to the front and finish the job. Then there is the question of just how tight is tight? One writer says to tighten the front to between 25 to 30 inch pounds and between 20 and 25 inch pounds on the rear. Another says to just go ahead and tighten them up to 60 inch pounds front and back. I bought a clicker-type wrench and just 30 inch pounds of pressure is a hell of a lot of torque. Sixty pounds sounds like it could very well crush wood. AS far as the three screw action all have said to tighten front, then rear, then go back to the middle and tighten it just enough so it does not rattle, which I take to mean about one or two threads into the screw. So, what is the difinative tightening process and how tight is tight. I once asked Jack Belk this same question and he told me the front screw needs to be tightened two grunts worth and the rear screw one grunt worth. Course, I guess how much torque a grunt would involve would be entirely dependent on the size, weight and physical ability of the individual doing the grunting. Thanks for any help folks. Tom Purdom

My answer is about like Belks, front good and snug, rear snug, if it has a 3rd (M70) tight enough it won't fall out. By the way where is Eudora, Ks, I'm in MO.

Eudora is six miles east of Lawrence, Kan., off of State Highway 10 and about 15 miles from Kansas City, Kan. Olathe is fairly near here too. I just moved to the area. Would still like to know if 60 inch pounds of torque is enough to crush wood. Trying to exert 30 inch-pounds of torque with that clicker torque wrench is quite a trick. Where in Missouri is Gallatin? I used to live and work in Mexico, Mo. Then moved to Grants, New Mexico and then here to Eudora. Was a journalist for 31 years before health reasons put me out to pasture.