Hi,
I have a Rem 700 with a scope base I cannot get off. The allen wrench turns inside the allen bolt that is holding the base on. What to do? I will certainly get torx screws for future applications

Thanks
Mike

There are several tricks: Try shimming one side
of the allen wrench, Try another size (Metric?),
The socket is too shallow for an Ezy Out, one of the rectangular screw removers could fit but be cautious when you pound it in, Finally it can be drilled out. This is getting into the area where you should see a Gunsmith but a left hand drill will get it out quickly (wiyhout a drillpress set up it can also destroy a lot of surfaces).
Good Luck!

This is an all too common problem. Set the rifle up on drill press or Milling machine and drill the head off of the screw. If you don't have either of the above listed machines, take it to someone who does. Preferably a gunsmith.

quote:

Originally posted by micmac:
Hi,
I have a Rem 700 with a scope base I cannot get off. The allen wrench turns inside the allen bolt that is holding the base on. What to do? I will dertainly get torx screws for future applications

Thanks
Mike

One thing that you might try is to take a pin punch of the diameter of the screw head, and gently swage the head back into some form where the allen wrench can get a bite. Warm the screws with a propane torch (action out of the stock preferably) and then tap on the wrench or screwdriver as you back it out.

If that doesn't work then try driving a phillips screw driver into the rounded out portion of the screw and tap it with a hammer as you attempt to back the screw out. If that fails, then you will have to have it drilled out.

you get one chance at this. use a metric key that just taps into the hole. use your soldering iron on the key to transfer the heat to the screw to break any loctite bond. one last tap on the key and give it a try to turn.

The obvious solition is to sell that Remington and get a Mauser.

Glue the allen wrench in, let it set up, turn it out, then throw both away.

Jaywalker

This always worked for me. I take a #3 center drill and drill into the head of the screw until the head pops off.

Drilling the head off as described above works, but still requires some effort to get the screw stub out. I'm assuming that the screw is stuck/loctited in place or the head wouldn't be stripped. Heat for loctite, prayer and patience for stuck, BTW.

I had good luck by drilling the hex portion of the head out, but stay shallow so you leave some meat for an EZ out. The long, cheap EZ out type tools may require you to grind off some to get a bite in the shallow hole...but they're cheap enough. If that doesn't work, drilling off the head is probably your only remaining choice.

quote:

If you get to thinkin you're a person of some influence, try ordering someone else's dog around

I have no illusions of grandeur. My own dog doesn't listen to me!

Try a little heat and a reverse twist drill bit.

micmac
tap the next size up torx socket in with a hammer, works fine.

griff

The advice to add a little heat is absolutely the next step. Once it's warm ( I use a heat gun, and even a hair drier once) squirt a bit of Kroil on it , as the metal starts cooling the kroil will wick into the screw hole. You may let it cool and then re-heat, tap in whatever tool you're going to use. The tapping causes a vibration which also will help if it's rusted in place. Using heat, Kroil, and mechanical agitation has worked most of the time.

The advice to "glue" something into the hole will work to. A long shank hex bit isn't to expensive. Clean the screw head with a solvent that evaporates first, then put a dab of JB Weld into the head of the screw and insert the driver. Let it set up for as many hours as recommended. (if you do this just before going to bed you won't be temped to try it before it sets up) I like using the long shank driver as I can cut off the shank to shorten it, then knock out the used piece, and put the remaining portion back into the bit driver till next time, or use one of the 1/4" bit drivers and glue a Torx bit into the screw. Then you're only tossing the bit and screw.

For me the last resort is drilling it. Even then, if you let the Kroil sit on it and use a left twist bit, many times it'll come free before it's been drilled completly through. Nate

I would go with grinding down a cheap EZ-out to get a good fit, then apply heat and give it a go.

Here is another option that you may wish to try- If you do not want the scope base and especially if it is aluminum, carefully cut the base off and use a small pair of vise grips to unscrew the screw. ( I like that phrase!). That would be cheaper and faster than taking it to a gunsmith or a machinist, just be careful not to mar the action.

If you do want to save the base, Griff has one of my preferred suggestions, tap in the next size larger torx bit and turn it out. I like to use a 1/4" box wrench on the bits and tap on them with a small hammer.

Before I discovered torx bits, I used to grind down a larger allen wrench into a taper, and then tap that into the hole. I don't usually recommend this because it takes a bit of skill to grind down an allen wrench symmetrically.

Another method if you have no other choice is to make a small chisel the size of the head, then tap that into so it cuts a slot and turn it out. I don't recommend it unless you absolutely have no other option because you run the risk of splitting the head in half and then you are really out of luck and the only thing you can do then is find a mill.