Tom,
Let's talk about factory barrels first. Some times the Remington 700 come off hard and some people think that Remington uses a special lube or glue that hardens like Locktite. They do not..... they use a grease much like you would find in a grease gun. What happens is that then it goes to the bluing room and the Temp is 292 degrees and the salts will weep into the threads some. Now if the action and barrel are Chrome Moly bluing is a rust process and there in is part of the problem the barrel comes off hard. Then the gentleman who bought it installs his bases and thinking more is better puts a healthy dose of wicking Locktite on the screws and it wicks into the threads of the receiver. Thats why factory barrels come off hard. I have taken some off that had so much Locktite on them it was into the lug area. The front screw of the front base is the culprit. Be sure not to use a over abundance of any locking material on it.I sometimes remove the front base and squirt some Croil in the hole. It only takes a short time to work and makes things easier coming off.
Now we have the barrel off and have cleaned the threads up on the bbl and receiver and are going to put the same barrel back on with a action wrench. I am talking the T handle type that slides into the raceway and handles are about18 inches long. First you can put a small amount of lube of your choice on the threads and face of the receiver. I put some on the recoil lug also. What you will find is that when you get the action where it hits the barrel and insert your wrench that you have a whole bunch of sponge b/4 its comes to a stop. That is because the action is not true and in some cases the barrel may not be either. In other words the receiver is hitting the barrel shoulder at some point first and NOT all the way around and you are setting things up for stress on the receiver. This is why actions are trued. That way when the two surfaces hit its all the way around and not at just one point.
Now lets move to bench rest actions and barrels made of stainless steel. Stainless will gall in a heartbeat. There must be some slop in the thread for the reciever to self center on the barrel. The type of grease used should be a good grade of Moly based or Never Sieze. You don't need a lot of it but some on the threads and faces of things that mate up. Now when you hand tighten the receiver up to the barrel you will find it goes bang and is tight... no sponge.At that point insert your wrench and I believe the method that Al and Randy talked about is the best way to tighten the barrel on. Some people use a torque wrench and tighten to so many inch pounds. Thats all fine, but in my humble opion it is not needed. I have seen that done on action screws also or some indicate or mark them so they get in the same place each time. My opinion of that is if you have a good bed job and NO rock it will tighten up just like the action that is trued, NO SPONGE.
In closing they make two different kinds of Locktite... wicking and not wicking. I use the none wicking type on the front screw. The other thing I need to ask is what did you mean Tom when you said....... "in Stan's long life" Are you saying I am getting OLD ? I know the truth hurts.... Suz don't even buy me green bananas any more.
Stan :)