All savage stocks come pillar bedded and usually a good fit. So firm hand tight is plenty. However, for best performance, these rifles should be bedded otherwise the action is really balancing on two points.
Once properly bedded, firm hand tight is more then enough. If you need heavy torque, there is something inherently wrong with that bedding system.
action screws keep the action from coming out of the stock. The Bedding holds the action in place.
Jerry