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Seems that every time I attempt this I am somewhat stymied. When doing a rifle, I orient all screws as prescribed before I finish the stock and metal. They are all usually marked to ascertain the correct location of each screw and tha attachments are marked to indicate correct position with relation to the front of the stock, ie. the grip cap, sling swivels, etc. After I get the stock finished and the metal back from the finisher, I attempt to install those nasty littly buggers in the correct holes and often I am frustrated as they don't seem to be the correct ones for that particular position. Does anyone have a really neat trick to do this with very little thinking and cussing? Jim Jim Kobe 10841 Oxborough Ave So Bloomington MN 55437 952.884.6031 Professional member American Custom Gunmakers Guild | ||
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I always do the following for similar projects...not guns but other stuff. I take a 8.5x14 piece of legal paper, draw a diagram of the item, and tape the screws in place on the the diagram. You could simply draw out the the stock and the barreled action on the paper. Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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You could measure the overall lengths of each screw and note them on a diagram similar to what Mr. Dettorre mentioned, and when you get your stuff back, measure the screw and compare them to the diagram. If you have screws that are damned near identical in length, trim them back a few thousandths to make them stand out a little easier with the calipers... Remember Jim, no job is too difficult if you have enough money.  _______________________________________________________________________________ This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend, it is my life. | |||
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I make a "screw board". Just a piece of pine long enough for all the screws and wide enough to write on. I drill a hole for each screw and screw them in. I write the location of each on masking tape that's taped to the board. They don't get lost, they don't rattle around in some crummy little box, and come assembly time they're all in one place. | |||
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Did I miss this question totally? "They are all usually marked to ascertain the correct location of each screw" Mr Kobe clearly stated he had the screws marked for location, yet all the answers were about methods to get the correct screw in the proper spot ???? "When doing a rifle, I orient all screws as prescribed before I finish the stock and metal." I suspect the problem may go away if you complete the stock finish before you index the screws. Adds time, sometimes weeks if you are using a traditional old built up oil finish. With a metal bead blast and blue, there will be no build up. You will still have problems if you use one of those new fangled metal finishes. Roger | |||
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Roger, I don't know but if what you say is true. Why would the question not simply be asked as: I time my screw slots before I finish the stock and before I have the metal finished and when I get he stock and metal back, the timing is no longer accurate? Anybody have any tips. I read his post twice and he seems to imply that he has the wrong screws in the wrong hole... Help us out Jim? which is it? Mike Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue. What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Mike, me thinks me see's number 10. _______________________________________________________________________________ This is my rifle, there are many like it but this one is mine. My rifle is my best friend, it is my life. | |||
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I have experienced the same problem, frequently. Nowadays I usually leave the screw heads slightly thick and then do the final alignment last. Regards, Joe __________________________ You can lead a human to logic but you can't make him think. NRA Life since 1976. God bless America! | |||
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Thanks for all the tips guys, but like Mike said, the orienting is done before the wood and metal has final finish. It is sanded and polished read to accept the finish. I get the metal back, with the screws, and have the stock finished and checkered; I go to put the screws back where I think they go and sometimes they don't line up. Let me carry this further. When I am ready to send the metal off to get finished, the small stuff like sling swivel bases and grip cap, I have put the screws back into their appropriate locations and, using stainless wire, I secure them in the proper holes and send them out for finishing. When I get them back, and try to put the parts together, they don't always turn up correctly. Jim Kobe 10841 Oxborough Ave So Bloomington MN 55437 952.884.6031 Professional member American Custom Gunmakers Guild | |||
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So how do thay line up after they are finished and how do you identify them with the correct location? Jim Kobe 10841 Oxborough Ave So Bloomington MN 55437 952.884.6031 Professional member American Custom Gunmakers Guild | |||
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They still don't line up right but I swap them around until I'm satisfied that they're as close as I can get them, then I do the final cut. I always try to keep spare screws of the same type so I have a selection from which to choose but that's not always possible. What really ticks me off is to find that all the spare screws I just purchased were from the same manufacturing lot and were slotted on an automatic-indexing machine that cuts all the slots in the same relationship to the threads. Why, hit don't do no good aTALL to swap them puppies around since they're all the same-same! GRRRR! Regards, Joe __________________________ You can lead a human to logic but you can't make him think. NRA Life since 1976. God bless America! | |||
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I don't know if this will be of any help or not, but when I have a bunch of screws to mark here are a couple of ways- The first I learned a long time ago working as a mechanic, was the best way of marking a number of different things was to use dots of paint. I used to use nail polish but instead of trying to write a number on a wire or bolt just use a dot or three of paint. You can use 2 different colors and mark a quite large amount of different items with just 2 or 3 dots. How that works out to marking screws and bolts is use an engraver pen, diamond file, or just a needle file and starting from one end just give each screw a slight mark on the shank, or use an engraver and make a dot on the shank or underside of the head. Start from lets say the butt end and give the first screw you come to a dot, the next one 2 dots, and on down the line. You can still blue them or whatever and the marks will always stay so if in the future the gun is ever taken apart completely it can always be reassembled in order. I suppose you could also use a small prick punch, but the trick is to keep it simple with just dots instead of trying to mark it with a number as a tiny 3 looks like a tiny 6 or 8 after a while, and 1 dot will never get mistaken for 7 no matter how corroded it gets. I used to try to write numbers and stuff with a sharpie marker, but going with dots or small hash marks is so much better. Anyway, I don't know if that was the question asked or if it was the timing changes after refinishing and stuff, about which I don't know of any tricks other than use a bigger-handled screwdriver.... for every hour in front of the computer you should have 3 hours outside | |||
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"When I am ready to send the metal off to get finished, the small stuff like sling swivel bases and grip cap, I have put the screws back into their appropriate locations and, using stainless wire, I secure them in the proper holes and send them out for finishing. When I get them back, and try to put the parts together, they don't always turn up correctly." I read your first post to mean you marked the screws, not just wired them in the correct position. You could ask your metal finisher if he just pulls all those screws and dunks them in a batch, then randomly rewires them into the fittings before returning to you. In that case, marking the screws by whatever method seems most reasonable. Preferable to trying each screw until you find the hole it fits. | |||
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Thed Brits hasd it figued out a hundred years ago. and I do the following. Mark the top, right or front screw with file mark..I get lazy and step to the belt sander and sand a slight flat. When there are four cross bolt heads, I mark the rf with one "slash, the Lf with two, the rr with three and leave the last one alone...nerver get them mixed up that way No paint to come off in bluing or casing | |||
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