I bought a used rifle and wanted to change to low rings. I thought I'd change the mount and rings to Leupold DD but found one of the front mount screws hex head had already been stripped. How do I get that SOB out. I'm worried if I drill it there wont be enough left to grip onto.
Thanks

If this is an allen head you might try tapering the next larger size (or a larger metric size) and tap it in with a hammer. It might make a fit that will get it loose. Any chance it's loctighted or epoxied? If so use some heat.

I cranked some allens into some rings so tight they bent the allen key when I tried to remove them- I then drilled them, and they pretty much fell out.

Take a short torx bit slightly larger than the hex. Tap it onto the screw, then put a small wrench on the bit, put some pressure on the wrench while tapping firmly on the bit with the hammer. It has worked for me.
Lyle

Thanks guys, I'll try your suggestions. If I can't get it to work, I'll drill it.

quote:

Originally posted by YUMAN:
Take a short torx bit slightly larger than the hex. Tap it onto the screw, then put a small wrench on the bit, put some pressure on the wrench while tapping firmly on the bit with the hammer. It has worked for me.
Lyle

Me too! If I can't get a bite with a hex wrench, then I use a little heat and the approriate size Torx driver with damned near 100 percent success. I use a Torx T15 on hex head screws that use a 7/64 wrench, and the T10 on those that use the 3/32 size wrench. I also use the Torx driver everytime I install these sizes. They fit perfect and they grip a lot better than the hex wrench.

On top of that, if you get the torx that fit the screwdrivers with the interchangeable bits, you can get more torque and better alignment than with a little torx wrench.

Thanks to all who replied. I tapped in the next larger torx bit and out it came. I think the tapping loosened it up a little. Thanks again.