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Gunsmithing Snapped a screw in a scope ring....

pmclaine

pmclaine

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
    • Nov 6, 2011
    36,109
    73,296
    57
    MA
    #1
    6-40 cap screw in a Redfield style ring set.

    Was bringing it up to 15 inch pounds with a Seekonk and it let go.

    Hoped I would get lucky and be able to remove the broken stud with one of these....

    https://www.ifixit.com/Store/Tools/...MIm4jm9JWA2wIVQlcNCh2gYg2nEAQYASABEgKrH_D_BwE

    but it wasnt meant to be.

    Screw was installed with some blue loctite and I soaked in Kroil added heat hoping those little screw remover teeth would bite and untwist 15 inch pounds but no joy.

    Ill be bringing the ring bottom to a shop with proper tools and let a gunsmith handle it.

    Im guessing a drill press, maybe a left hand bit and things will back right out but whats the boards answer to this problem?
     
    #3
    Its from a Badger M40 repro base/ring set.

    $180 replacement.

    Unsure if a Redfield will just fit right in but if it did Id be sporting blued steel mixed with parkerized.

    When "shit happens" its never that simple.
     
    #6
    diverdon said:
    Just imagine how nice it would be to have a nice big screw like the one in my Avatar (an ARC mount.)
    Click to expand...

    The only ring screw I’ve ever stripped was on Arc ring. Couldn’t get it out any without risking messing up the ring itself. Took it to a smith and he used an easy out with his press. Just had to call arc and they sent a new screw.
     
    • Like
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    #7
    diverdon said:
    Just imagine how nice it would be to have a nice big screw like the one in my Avatar (an ARC mount.)
    Click to expand...

    Did the USMC use those on their M40s in Vietnam?

    P4276318_zpsabhiosnz.jpg


    Sadly I am a victim of "wannabeness" and I want to keep it in the "clone" camp.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: duramaxed and dinc3
    #8
    Rthur said:
    Warm her up and try a left hand drill bit.
    Or if the screw is proud of the ring cut a slot across and apply screwdriver/heat.

    R
    Click to expand...

    Couldnt get a left hand drill local but the bottom of the ring is open to the bottom of the screw.

    I first punched a small seat for a right hand drill in the bottom center of the screw to keep the bit from walking than went at it with a titanium bit and some supposedly hard cobalt type bit but couldnt get a bite in the stud to break it free. Badger gives a hard screw you can let Marty know.

    The drill diameter is 1/16 inch so only so much pressure I can apply by hand without fearing Ill snap the drill bit.

    Ive tried my somewhat lame attempt and already pissed away $20 on the screw grabbers that didnt grab.

    Now its time to let someone that has good tools take a stab. The shop Im going to does microwelding so I guess if need be they will weld a tit to the stud and use vice grips to twist it out.

    Just interested to know what the solutions are out there.

    Next time if the spec is 12-15 inch pounds Ill settle at 13.5. Just had to ensure it was at high end of spec........fucking overachiever I am.


    On the bright side if my Seekonk claims plus or minus 3% I know now its plus :).
     
    #12
    What spife said works.

    Also if you have a vibro engraving pen handy,
    Drop oil on the screw top and bottom if you can,
    Put the tip of the pen at a slight angle, lefty loosy and vibrate the screw.
    Take care not to touch anything but the screw.
    Start off with the pen on slow.
    I used this method first, before drilling because it was easy .

    I have removed screws as small as 2-56 and 0-80.
    The vibration just kind of sucks the oil in.
    Also works wonders on broken taps!
     
    Last edited:
    • Like
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    #15
    CaptNemo said:
    Send the ring back to Badger ?
    Click to expand...

    A possible. Marty was able to help by supplying a replacement screw.

    There is a gun shop local that interests me.

    They started out as a machine shop specializing in micro welding and the owners interests in firearms lead him into a side sales/smithing business.

    They are very active in suporting 2A causes in the state.

    I have been looking for an excuse to check them out/give them a sale so perhaps this will be the means.

    LRI offering their services is great and Im sure Badger could have done it - they have been so helpful they would probably just send a new ring - but I fucked up so Ill see if I can fix it and perhaps support one of the few that support the 2A in my state.

    If the range is 12-15 inch pounds Ill never exceed 13 inch pounds in the future.

    Really want to try out that new scope. Miss my M40.
     
    #17
    Greg Langelius * said:
    Solvents for LocTite = Methylene Chloride and/or Acetone.

    "Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars
    May 24, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I needed it to dissolve blue lock tight and it worked

    2 people found this helpful"


    Greg
    Click to expand...

    Yep gave the blue and yellow can of Acetone a chance to loosen it up, as well as heat ditto Kroil.

    It didnt defeat me.

    Im just to lazy to go to the step brothers shop and use a left hand drill and drill press which I think would result in success in short order.

    Thats the most precise, best method, I can come up with.

    Curious if there is better yet.
     
    #18
    With the acetone or mek and industrial strength ipa, all still have to be wet when you try.
    As soon as the loctite dries its stuck again. It recryistalises on the red stuff normaly used on scopes .
    Ipa fumes will probably not eat up scope glass coatings acetone might.

    The ipa doesn't eat up your hands as bad, less harm to your liver.

    Just in case you wish to save that for whiskey. Lol
     
    Last edited:
    #19
    The safest way to remove the broken screw is with EDM (electro discharge machining, not bad music).

    The moral of this story is don't use loktite on little ring screws or if you do, do it right, apply one small dot to the threads and let it dry there before you install the screw. When you buy a screw with pre-applied loktite, that's exactly what you get and they work just fine.
     
    #27
    Im willing to blow twenty bucks on the expirement. Those tools are actually made pretty nice and once bought they are owned forever.

    Maybe someday they will redeem themselves.

    This time they just were not the right tools and though they failed, they didnt make things worse.

    I learned about tools when I spent more time riding my motorcycle and got tired of having it come back from being fixed at the dealer and have the same problem arise two weeks later.

    Asked one dealership about how to lock up a primary to remove the shaft nut and was told to use the handle of my hammer.

    Sure that works but it chews up your hammer handle and Jims sold a piece of delrin for like $5 that works perfect and was designed to do that.

    If they were using their hammers to lock up a primary no wonder my heads leaked two weeks later.

    My mantra "If you only need it once, maybe twice, borrow it. If you think you will use the tool three times, buy it."

    I wont be buying a microwelder.
     
    #28
    What I have done in similar cases is to use magnification and cut a small screwdriver slot in the remaining bolt. Then heat and back it out. I have microsurgery tools so that makes it possibile.
     
    #30
    #33
    flyer said:
    The safest way to remove the broken screw is with EDM (electro discharge machining, not bad music).

    The moral of this story is don't use loktite on little ring screws or if you do, do it right, apply one small dot to the threads and let it dry there before you install the screw. When you buy a screw with pre-applied loktite, that's exactly what you get and they work just fine.
    Click to expand...

    Know too that adding Loctite or any lube decreases the amount of torque necessary to lock it down. The smaller the screw, the less torque needed, especially with Loctite.
     
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