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Unified Coarse (UNC) · 7/16-14 UNC

7/16"-14 UNC Thread — Dimensions, Tap Drill & Clearance

The tap drill for 7/16"-14 UNC is U — 0.3680 in (9.347 mm) — which leaves 74.9% thread engagement with a cut tap. Basic pitch diameter is 0.3911 in (9.934 mm) and basic minor diameter is 0.3602 in (9.149 mm). Tapped-hole figures on this page assume a class 2B thread; drill sizes for 50–85% engagement are in the tap drill table below.

Series
Unified Coarse (UNC)
Designation
7/16-14 UNC
TPI
14
Standard
ASME B1.1

Tap drill · 74.9% thread · cut tap

U

Drill Ø
0.3680in
Drill Ø
9.347mm
Clearance (normal)
29/64

Assumes 75% thread engagement with a cut tap and a class 2B hole. That drill actually leaves 74.9% thread.

Basic Thread Dimensions for 7/16"-14 UNC

Basic thread dimensions — 7/16"-14 UNC
PropertyInchMillimetre
Basic major diameter0.437511.113
Threads per inch14
Pitch0.07141.814
Basic pitch diameter0.39119.934
Basic minor diameter0.36029.149
External thread root diameter0.35248.951
Sharp V thread height (H)0.06191.572

Threads per inch has no millimetre counterpart — metric threads are specified by pitch instead. Basic dimensions are the theoretical values before any tolerance class is applied.

Tap Drill Sizes for 7/16"-14 UNC

Cut taps, from 50% to 85% thread engagement. The shop default is 75% — a U drill. Deeper engagement means more holding strength and more torque on the tap.

Tap drill sizes by thread engagement — 7/16"-14 UNC, cut tap
PropertyTarget hole ØNearest standard drillProperty
Thread %inmmDrillinmmActual thread %
50%0.39119.93425/640.39069.92250.5
60%0.38189.698W0.38609.80455.5
65%0.37729.581V0.37709.57665.2
70%0.37259.4613/80.37509.52567.4
75%default0.36799.345U0.36809.34774.9
80%0.36339.22823/640.35949.12884.2
85%0.35869.108T0.35809.09385.7

Target hole Ø is the theoretical hole for the stated engagement. The drill column is the nearest size in the standard number/letter/fractional/metric index, and actual thread % is what that real drill produces — the number that matters at the machine. Values are for cut taps. Tapped-hole figures assume a class 2B hole.

Clearance Hole Sizes for 7/16"-14 UNC

The through-hole a 7/16"-14 UNC fastener passes freely, not the tapped hole.

Clearance hole sizes — 7/16"-14 UNC
PropertyPropertyHole ØProperty
FitDrillinmmUse
Close7/160.452811.501Located joints, dowelled assemblies
Normal29/640.468511.900General assembly — the default
Loose15/320.484312.301Slotted or adjustable joints, weldments

Clearance holes per ISO 273 (metric) and ASME B18.2.8 (inch). The drill column is the nearest standard drill at or above the specified hole diameter.

Thread Class Limits for 7/16"-14 UNC

Manufacturing limits for classes 2B, 3B, 2A, 3A. A gauge reading outside these bands is a reject, not a judgement call.

External thread (bolt / screw) limits — 7/16"-14 UNC
PropertyClass 2AClass 3A
Limitinmminmm
Major Ø max0.436111.0770.437511.113
Major Ø min0.425810.8150.427210.851
Pitch Ø max0.38979.8980.39119.934
Pitch Ø min0.38509.7790.38769.845
Pitch Ø tolerance0.00470.1190.00350.089
Minor Ø max0.34338.7200.34478.755
Minor Ø min0.33868.6000.34128.666
Allowance0.00140.0360.00000.000
Internal thread (nut / tapped hole) limits — 7/16"-14 UNC
PropertyClass 2BClass 3B
Limitinmminmm
Major Ø max0.453911.5290.452411.491
Major Ø min0.437511.1130.437511.113
Pitch Ø max0.397210.0890.395710.051
Pitch Ø min0.39119.9340.39119.934
Pitch Ø tolerance0.00610.1550.00460.117
Minor Ø max0.37609.5500.37179.441
Minor Ø min0.36029.1490.36029.149
Allowance0.00000.0000.00000.000

Tensile Stress Area of 7/16"-14 UNC

The effective cross-section used to size a 7/16"-14 UNC fastener against a load. Multiply it by the material's allowable stress — the area itself carries no strength assumption.

Tensile stress area — 7/16"-14 UNC
Propertyin²mm²
Tensile stress area0.1063168.59

The formula this value comes from is in the sources section below.

Sources and Method for 7/16"-14 UNC

Basic dimensionscomputed

NBS Handbook H28 (1969) Part I §§6-7 (public domain, 17 U.S.C. 105); normative modern reference ASME B1.1; series membership: Series membership: threadlib UIS_thread.csv (BSD-3-Clause); cross-checked against NBS H28 (1969) Part I Table 2.21; clearance holes: ISO 273 (metric) and ASME B18.2.8 (inch) via FreeCAD FeatureHole.cpp (LGPL-2.1+), cross-checked against bd_warehouse clearance_hole_sizes.csv (Apache-2.0)

Verified against NBS H28 (1969) Part I, Table 2.21 (public domain); cross-checked against FreeCAD CAM thread tables (LGPL-2.1+) — 1064 checks passed at 0.0001 in

Computed from the standard's formulas, then checked against published tables.

Tap drill sizescomputed

Machinery's Handbook %-thread formula (geometry-derived); nearest-standard-drill-to-75% rule verified at 36/39 published chart rows in docs/research/data-sourcing.md §3.4

Verified against Wikipedia Unified Thread Standard, preferred cutting tap drill size columns (CC BY-SA 4.0) — 36/39 published UNC+UNF rows reproduced

Computed from the standard's formulas, then checked against published tables.

Class limitscomputed

NBS Handbook H28 (1969) Part I §§6-7 (public domain, 17 U.S.C. 105); normative modern reference ASME B1.1

Verified against NBS H28 (1969) Part I, Table 2.21 (public domain); cross-checked against FreeCAD CAM thread tables (LGPL-2.1+) — 1064 checks passed at 0.0001 in

Computed from the standard's formulas, then checked against published tables.

Formula

Tap drill hole diameter, inch threads

hole Ø  =  D − (%thread ÷ 100) × (1.29904 ÷ n)

  D = basic major diameter (in)
  n = threads per inch

1.29904 = 2 × 0.64952, twice the engaged thread height per side on the 60° Unified profile.

Actual thread engagement of the chosen drill

%thread  =  (D − drill Ø) × n ÷ 1.29904 × 100

The drill column rounds to a real drill; this is the engagement that drill actually leaves.

Tensile stress area, Unified inch threads

At  =  0.7854 × (D − 0.9743 ÷ n)²

ASME B1.1 / NBS H28 form. Reproduces the stored value exactly for this thread.

Assumptions
  • The headline tap drill assumes 75% thread engagement, the general shop default. Every other engagement from 50% to 85% is in the tap drill table — change the assumption and the number moves.
  • Tap drill figures are for cut taps. Drill diameters are nominal; a worn or run-out drill cuts oversize and reduces engagement further.
  • Tapped-hole figures assume a class 2B internal thread, the general-purpose fit.
  • Dataset scope: Le = 1D for UNC/UNF, 9P for UNEF — determined empirically against H28 Table 2.21, resolving data-sourcing.md open item 5. EXCLUDED: form (roll) tap drills, class 1A/1B limits, class 1AR allowances, constant-pitch UN series.
Data last verified
August 1, 2026
How this data is built and checked →

How to Cite This 7/16"-14 UNC Reference

Citation

ShopMath. "7/16"-14 UNC Thread — Dimensions, Tap Drill & Clearance." ShopMath, verified August 1, 2026, https://shopmath.org/threads/unc/7-16-14

BibTeX

@misc{shopmath-threads-unc-7-16-14,
  title        = {7/16"-14 UNC Thread — Dimensions, Tap Drill & Clearance},
  author       = {{ShopMath}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://shopmath.org/threads/unc/7-16-14}},
  note         = {Data verified 2026-08-01}
}

Permanent URL

https://shopmath.org/threads/unc/7-16-14

Common Questions About 7/16"-14 UNC

What is the tap drill size for 7/16"-14 UNC?

The tap drill for 7/16"-14 UNC is U — 0.3680 in (9.347 mm). That leaves 74.9% thread engagement with a cut tap.

What is the pitch diameter of 7/16"-14 UNC?

The basic pitch diameter of 7/16"-14 UNC is 0.3911 in (9.934 mm). For a class 2B thread it runs 0.3911 in (9.934 mm) to 0.3972 in (10.089 mm).

What is the minor diameter of 7/16"-14 UNC?

The basic minor diameter of 7/16"-14 UNC is 0.3602 in (9.149 mm). That is the theoretical root of the internal thread, not the drilled hole size — see the tap drill table for the hole to drill.

What is the thread pitch of 7/16"-14 UNC?

7/16"-14 UNC has 14 threads per inch, a pitch of 0.0714 in (1.814 mm).

What size clearance hole does a 7/16"-14 UNC fastener need?

close fit 7/16 (0.4528 in (11.501 mm)), normal fit 29/64 (0.4685 in (11.900 mm)), loose fit 15/32 (0.4843 in (12.301 mm)). The normal fit is the general-assembly default.

What is the tensile stress area of 7/16"-14 UNC?

The tensile stress area of 7/16"-14 UNC is 0.10631 in² (68.59 mm²). Multiply it by the fastener material's allowable stress to get a load.

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