Remington 700 scope base screws, softer steel than receiver?

[His lordship.]

I bought a Remington 700 in .308 today and put my scope on to test fire, I had purchased a previous 700 twenty years ago in .243 and have often wondered how many people bugger up those itty bitty screws when mounting a Weaver scope base with a screw driver?
 
Bouncing around online tonight and some fellow mentioned that the mounting screws use a softer steel than the receiver, so if a guy was a "Gorilla" with a screw driver and stripped them while torqueing the screws in, a gunsmith would only need to get the broken screw out, and not worry about damage to the rifle's receiver, if that is true?  I screwed them in snug, and then added a slight turn, hoping that will keep things good.  Did not use a torque wrench or blue locktite, I figure the recoil of a .308 should not be too bad.
 
My Oldsmobile's engine is aluminum, and the repair manual is strict about torque on putting in spark plugs, but on my last tune up I tried putting some muscle on the ratchet and it seems just like the older cast iron heads in torque allowances.  I never stripped out an engine head while putting in plugs back when I was an auto mechanic
 
Is the design of the Remington 700 forgiving on torque variances with those small screws?
 
Thanks.

[Nobade]

Remington receivers are quite tough but not exceptionally hard. Pretty much exactly what you would want in a rifle action. Base screws vary considerably. The ones Weaver uses are very good quality and quite hard. If your screwdriver fits properly they should not suffer any damage at all. Other makes of screws are not always hard enough, most of the Chinese ones I see are way too soft so they either strip the heads or break off before enough torque can be applied to them. I don't think the issue is whether the screw is too hard, the problems usually come from people not getting them started straight. Then they bugger up the screw which tears up the hole in the receiver. If you use good quality screws (Weaver, Leupold,etc...) and a properly fitting tool to install them and reasonable torque you should never have any problems.

[keith44]

+1

Strat them square with their holes, and do not over tighten.