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I have two stuck, and I mean stuck solid, set screws in a Recknagel Universal front sight ramp. I'm not sure how they got stuck, but suffice it to say that someone else stuck them! I have tried Kroil. No go. I have tried applying heat to the screws with a soldering iron and with a red hot nail that I heated with a torch. Neither heating method worked. Part of the problem is that these screws are so tiny. The Allen wrench that I have to use is ridiculously small and flexes all over the place. Any tips on how to break these loose? They will be much appreciated! Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | ||
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Take a small punch and lightly tap the set screw to try and loosen it. Other then that. A little more heat and a little more wiggling www.KLStottlemyer.com Deport the Homeless and Give the Illegals citizenship. AT LEAST THE ILLEGALS WILL WORK | |||
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Try to find a torx bit that is a bit bigger than hex hole. Tap it in place until it stops. This should give you more bite and won't round out like a hex head. I've done this with a #10 torx on scope ring hex head screws with great success. | |||
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An EZ out extractor that will bite into the allen socket will probably work. If that doesn't work & the set screw is not too deep, if you can find a Craftsman screw extractor that is like a left hand drill bit point, that might work. A left hand drill bit would be another option. GOOGLE HOTLINK FIX FOR BLOCKED PHOTOBUCKET IMAGES https://chrome.google.com/webs...inkfix=1516144253810 | |||
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I found a small impact driver that uses 1/4 hex bits. Get one of these and a short bit to fit the screw. One good wack with a hammer and they usually spin right out. It has even worked with badly damaged screws. | |||
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I use Torx bits exclusively when dealing with hex head screws. And for the really tough ones, regardless of size, I tap the top of the handle with a hammer while applying counter clockwise force on the screw. That is also a good way to seat screws. _______________________________________________________________________________ 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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Won't heating the screw cause it to expand and grab even tighter? If it were possible to heat the surrounding metal and keep the screw cool that would be best, right? | |||
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The whole heat thing has all way perplexed me but it does work in most cases. I think it is more to break loose any crud, corrosion, or lock tight that may be in there. www.KLStottlemyer.com Deport the Homeless and Give the Illegals citizenship. AT LEAST THE ILLEGALS WILL WORK | |||
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Dear Mr. Robinson: Brake cleaner. Load it up, and keep it wet. It will penetrate after a few minutes. I like the torx bit idea above, too. Sincerely, Chris Bemis | |||
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or brake fluid... opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club Information on Ammoguide about the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR. 476AR, http://www.weaponsmith.com | |||
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I never understood heating the screw unless you were 100% positive it had glue. The screw will expand, how does that make it easier to get it out? I would (if you can) take the whole thing off and put it in the freezer. If you can't get the base off, just start icing it directly and see if you can't get the metals to shrink a teeny bit. | |||
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Heating the metal around the screw will help loosen it. Steel expands .000006 of an inch per degree F. The heat will cause movement around the screw and start to break loose glue or corrosion. If you heat the steel around the screw the corrosion is not a good heat conducter and often provides the needed temp. difference. Heating and then cooling quickly also will shock the joint and sometimes loosen it. On most guns as long as you don't go over 600 deg.(blue) you won't effect any normal heat treat outside of the trigger area. Sights and the barrel normally are just normalized so heat will have little or no effect unless you quench them when they are bright red.....Tom SCI lifer NRA Patron DRSS DSC | |||
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Why wouldn't the steel expand inward toward the hole? Isn;t the idea to make the molecules tighter together and this would only happen when cooling wouldn;t it? Dunno...im no physics major | |||
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I know that a ring of weld bead in an outer bearing race in a blind shoulder hole will cause the race to drop right out once it cools. GOOGLE HOTLINK FIX FOR BLOCKED PHOTOBUCKET IMAGES https://chrome.google.com/webs...inkfix=1516144253810 | |||
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I've seen quite a few muzzle loader breech plugs easily removed by heating the breech to sizzling hot & plunging it into a coffee can full of ice water. GOOGLE HOTLINK FIX FOR BLOCKED PHOTOBUCKET IMAGES https://chrome.google.com/webs...inkfix=1516144253810 | |||
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heat works on large bolts&nuts, rusty/old or otherwise, no glue on them. I think it's because they expand and contract rapidly, heating/cooling, that frees them up. I think... | |||
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Heating is useful to break rust and glue. You may try heating the barrel and applying cold to the screws. This will expand the screw hole and shrink the screw. If you take a can of computer keyboard duster and turn it upside down, triggering it will discharge a -200 f fluid. Wear gloves! | |||
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Sounds tricky. What material are the screws and parts? If they are different you might be able to dissolve the screws. It works with taps broken off in titanium anyway. | |||
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The heating is just part of a rapid heating and cooling cycle to make the metal parts move slightly and break the bond between them. In an industrial setting where you have fasteners which constantly go through large heating/cooling cycles, you have to periodically retighten due to them creeping apart. If it is stuck and you can't get them to move, a left handed drill bit will sometimes back them out. I once had a starter bolt in an inboard that was so tight it snapped off flush when trying to remove it. I got a left handed drill bit, and it backed the bolt out without using an ezout. They are not easy to find except from industrial suppliers, but they stock them because most maintenance departments keep them on hand for this very reason. However you drill the hole, the left handed screw extractors will usually take them right out. I recently had to do that to a mount screw on a double rifle rib that had froen up. With a hex head, it is pretty easy to drill without damaging the threads because the internal hex head centers the bit. Usually once you drill for the extractor, it will pop out very easily. Just be sure to control your depth when working directly on a barrel | |||
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Heating and cooling through several cycles with Kroil on it usually works. I've had to use heat and dry ice even. One thing I'd like to have access to for these type situations is an ultrasonic bath full of ATF or brake fluid. Nate | |||
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Are you using bits in a screwdriver handle with repalceable bits, or a real L-shaped allen key? If it's the latter you will get way more torque with a screwdriver with the right bit and it won't "flex" as much. | |||
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Thanks for all the ideas. I didn't want to destroy the screws, but I decided they're easy enough to replace, so I checked my set of Craftsman broken screw extractors and my torx drivers and bits. These screws are too small for the smallest broken screw extractor and the smallest torx bit in my tool box. I am trying brake fluid, brake cleaner and Kroil, along with some tapping with a pin punch. I hope it works. I have already snapped an L-shaped Allen wrench and torqued off the shank of an Allen bit that fits into a screwdriver. These suckers are tight! Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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You can grind a taper into a Torx bit and tap it in. You just need something that will bite in. _______________________________________________________________________________ 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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It isn't physics it's mathmatics, well both. The distance around the screw is greater than the dia. of the screw, therefore, the hole expands more than the plug. That is why you can shrink fit a collar.....Tom SCI lifer NRA Patron DRSS DSC | |||
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Heat expands all dimensions. The hole gets bigger, and the outside larger as well. A Foundry Rule is longer than normal as all dimensions shrink the same. | |||
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Take a wire drill of the proper size for clearance and just drill it out and replace. Clean up with a tap if necessary. | |||
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If you can get a left hand drill bit and reverse your press it will take a screw out so fast it will scare you. | |||
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 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 bought a cheap set of Craftsman "Screw Out" extractors. They are just like a left hand bit on the tip, but there are no flutes to weaken the shank. So far they have worked every time. The only drawback is that the smallest one I have is about 1/4" in diameter. A small screw that is broken off flush will be hard to get out W/O marring the work piece. GOOGLE HOTLINK FIX FOR BLOCKED PHOTOBUCKET IMAGES https://chrome.google.com/webs...inkfix=1516144253810 | |||
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I finally had to drill them out.  Both the one on the right side of the ramp (not visible in the picture, but it locks the front sight in place once the height has been adjusted by turning the large hex screw just in front of the bead) and the one on the front of the ramp (the set screw that's lower down on the ramp and that keeps the hood in place). During the time I did this work, I noticed that there is a hole drilled just behind the front set screw hole that may have held some kind of pin (I'm not sure). Whatever was in the hole is missing. It looks from the photo like a spring loaded pin of some kind. Does anyone know the size of the set screws and whether that is, in fact, a spring loaded pin behind the front set screw? Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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I do not know the size of the screws, but I looked at my Universal and on the set screw that is aft of the sight blade itself there is a little insert of some kind of plastic that I believe acts as a locker to that set screw so that there is side tension on the screws no matter how far it is screwed into the hole. I was able to take a small knife and poke it into the material. I could se how this would disappear if you ended up drilling out the screw. I'd call NECG for replacements; they should be able to help you out. Good luck. | |||
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Thanks, BaxterB. I appreciate the help. The screws appear to be 1.5mm in diameter, but I don't know the thread pitch. I have contacted NECG re: replacements. You must be right about the "pin" since the geometry isn't right for a spring loaded retaining pin. Thanks, again. Mike Wilderness is my cathedral, and hunting is my prayer. | |||
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The only spring on mine is the teeny one on the bottom of the blade itself. Damn if that's not hard to keep track of when you take the blade out. | |||
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