Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing removing stuck screws from scope bases

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to remove stuck screw from the scope bases? I was able to remove 2 of the 4 screws, and I noticed that they had a greyish looking loc-tite on them. I twisted two screw head bits trying to remove them. I trying tapping on the screwdriver with a hammer, soaking with Kroil, even freezing, and I still cannot get the two remaining screws out. Any suggestions would be welcome.

I've experienced the same problem and resorted to drilling the head off the screws, thereby allowing for the removal of the base. Once the base is off then you can use pliers or vise grips for removing the screw. You have tried most everything else! Good Luck! Jerry1

Take a sharp pointed soldering iron and heat the head of the screw. This will soften any epoxy or Loc Tite on the threads. Do one at a time. When it's hot, quickly take your well fitted screwdriver and try again. It may help to take an old beater screwdriver and file the bit to the exact fit on the screw heads.

If that doen't work, then drill off the heads, pull off the base and try the vise grip. To be honest, I'd probably take it to a smith at that point.

JimF

Good advice from JimF. The soldering iron generaly works. A hair dryer will help if you dont have a soldering iron.

While Kroil and mouse milk are the standards of penatrating oils, Corrosion-X is becoming our standard. You can see it at corrosionx.com Corrosion-X kills corrosion on steel, aluminum etc. It uses a light migratory oil to move its special ingredients around. It will loosen screws and rivets on riveted strutures. It is not terribly expensive, will not harm paint or any electrical components. It has not affected any stock finishes but I am not sure about varnish. No damage to blued surfaces either.
Corrosion-X probably would be no help with screws that have a heavy coating of lock-tite on them. For standard stuck screws it seems to work better than most other oils.

This happened to me and my gunsmith used a propane torch just long enough to liquify the Loc Tite. The screws came right out. Thanks...

You can use a propane torch to heat the screw head as well, then use a well fitted screw driver or allen wrench (depending on the screw used) to get them out. Flinch

Failing the above suggestions, I've used screw extractors with lot's of success on other equipment. Usually the kit will include a left-handed drill bit properly sized for each extractor (which again vary in size depending on screw/bolt diamter.) Quite often the screw will come loose while driling the pilot hole with the left-handed drill bit.

What I did in this situation: I was luckly enough to be able to take a hack saw and slot the screws to accept a straight blade screw driver. Then I applied moderate pressure back and forth on the screws untill they loosened.
The screws then came out okay.

Thanks to everyone's suggestions! I ended up taking the gun to the gunsmith, and he just called me and said that the gun was ready. He drilled off the screw heads, reomved the bases, and used a pliers to remove the screws, as was suggested here. I suppose that I could have done this myself, but I already had a trip to the gunsmith scheduled, to drop of a shotgun for re-bluing. Thanks again! - Jeff