Got two tight phillips screws holding the front sight ramp on my Anschutz barrel. I need that ramp off to help make weight limit for Silhouette. I've got Kroil on the screws now. Any advise on a thermal direction I could go to help them come out? Heat? Deepfreeze? Thanks! FNMauser

The screws may have loctite or some form of thread locker on them. Heat with a soldering iron or other means up to about 375 degrees. Also try a sharp tap with a hammer and punch on the screw head to set the head. Be careful not to ruin the screw slot. Should loosen easily after that. Also be sure to use a good fitting screwdriver bit.
Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by Bob G:
The screws may have loctite or some form of thread locker on them. Heat with a soldering iron or other means up to about 375 degrees. Also try a sharp tap with a hammer and punch on the screw head to set the head. Be careful not to ruin the screw slot. Should loosen easily after that. Also be sure to use a good fitting screwdriver bit.
Good luck.

That makes sense to me about the heat and the "good-fitting" screwdriver. If you can, use a hollow-ground screwdriver. I buy the hex-drive bits and fit them to the screws. Less chance of messing up the screw heads.

Don't heat it up past 350 or so. There is no real advantage to geeting it hotter and the heat might screw something up (sorry 'bout that). I've had the same problem and found tapping on the screwdriver while turning it (sorta like an impact driver) sometimes will loosen it.

I've worked on lots of guns and other stuff including motorcycles and tapping works sometimes.

All of the above is good advice, I think. Once or twice in my life I have even found that turning the screw IN a bit deeper helped. I don't know why...just guess the important thing is to "break it loose" [as opposed to breaking it :<] and get it moving. Once free to move in any direction, it should likely come right out.

Canuk is right. Better broken loose, than broken off.

My dad used to tighten screws a little that were stubborn and nothing else worked.

Dip your phillips bit in valve grinding compound or something similar-the abrasive will help keep it from slipping out of the screwhead allowing you to get more working torque.

quote:

Originally posted by fnmauser:
Got two tight phillips screws holding the front sight ramp on my Anschutz barrel. I need that ramp off to help make weight limit for Silhouette. I've got Kroil on the screws now. Any advise on a thermal direction I could go to help them come out? Heat? Deepfreeze? Thanks! FNMauser

The idea is to heat the area near the screw, not the screw itself. The metal around the screw will expand as it warms, but if you heat it too long, then both the metal and the screw will heat/expand as a unit. You want heat on the outside area around the screw, and the screw at a cooler temperature.

Have you ever had a glass jar with an over-tightened lid? Well, in such a case all you have to do is to turn the tap water to hot, let it run until maximum temperature is reached, and then momentarily run hot water over the lid only (not the glass). The lid expands sooner than the glass, and you can then remove the lid.

A flywheel gear ring: Place the flywheel in the freezer and let it get real cold, place the ring in the oven and let it get hot. Now place the flywheel on a table, and rapidly pull the ring out of the oven, align the ring over the flywheel, and bring it down on the flywheel. When the ring cools, it will tighten around the flywheel.

quote:

Originally posted by fnmauser:
Got two tight phillips screws holding the front sight ramp on my Anschutz barrel. I need that ramp off to help make weight limit for Silhouette. I've got Kroil on the screws now. Any advise on a thermal direction I could go to help them come out? Heat? Deepfreeze? Thanks! FNMauser

Cold for the screw - heat for the hole!!

If the heat trick or tapping does not work try a drop of P B Blaster on them . Put it on then let it set over night . Have had great results with it on car bolts that just would not come loose no matter what I tried . Good Luck Peat

"PB Blaster" spunds like good stuff. Does it have a longer name or is that the full name? Where does one buy it? Auto parts supply houses?

PB Blaster

Kroil works well too...........

PB has a distinctive smell. It smells a little like "moth balls." If it smells like that it's got to be good...

I have found that birchwood casey sheath works better than pb blaster. Put one drop on the screw or nut let it sit a minute then work the screw or nut back and forth. I use both products pb blaster for big nuts/bolts and sheath for the fine stuff. Hope this helps.... lost

I second and third Kroil.
When faced with an ugly screw I butress it up real sturdy. Clean the slot up and degrease it. Do the above with lapping compound to keep from slipping. Bare down hard with the driver and start twisting slightly while rapping the driver with a mallet, hammer, whatever. Usually cracks them loose. If it doesn't then I put the kroil to it and leave it alone for a day. It usually comes apart then.

Don

I have a butane burner that cooks use to melt suger in a spoon..Get one at any cook store..it has a needle size flame...spot it on a screw and when you see little bubbles turn the screw out, works every time...

I also have some old screw drivers sans handles that I chuck up in a drill press, heat the stem with a torch or whatever to cherry red, when it turns back to metal then twist the drill press chuck by hand and the screw will come right out.

kroil or brake fluid over night

put it in a padded vise

put in an UNDERsized screw driver

RAP it with a brass hammer

replace with correct screwdriver

attempt backing out

then attempt turning IN

these are all done fairly nicely...

take a metal bar, turn tip down to screw size, heat bar/tip end VERY hot with torch...

let it cool to just where i can't see it's red,
hold on screw until i get bored (generally 3-5 mins)

turn screw out...


that don't work...

pack part in dry ice for 2 hours, repeat from above except the heat

jeffe

I have never failed to get a screw loose this way. I mount the complete part in the mill vise and use a screw driver bit of the "Correct" size and with a hex shank mounted in the drill chuck. Position this carefully over the screw and take a combination wrench that fits the hex, put the screw driver bit into the offending screw and use the mill spindle handle to exert pressure and turn the wrench.