Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Marlin 1895 guide gun receiver "filler" screws stuck

Picked up a new 1895 guide gun big loop last week. Shot it with open sights and found that this thing is going to be a blast (pun intended ).

decided i was going to scope it. Bought a game reaper 1 peice mount and proceeded to take out the filler screws. First two (front receiver pair) came out ok with a little encouragement. The back two however were not coming out. I made sure i had a proper screw driver and then used a penetrating oil and lastly tried tapping the screw driver with a hammer. after all of this the slots started to get a little buggered up. I called Marlin and they said they have had lots of problems with this and are well aware of the issue. I asked if they could provide me with a pickup tag and they said no they cant do that. I was a little surprised at that. Frustrating to purchase a new rifle and have to send it off to a gun smith on my dime to have a problem fixed that the manufacturer knows is a problem. I was hopeing they would pick up the shipping charge. My local smith said it looked as though the finish they apply had locked in the filler screws. He was going to have to likely drill them out.

Just posting so that others may know if they have a similar issue.

That sucks...the new RemLins are known for some QC issues...

hope you get 'em resolved and hope the big bore 45-70 works

for you......

I received a rifle that I bought here on the fire that the previous owner had broken off a scope base mounting screw in. I took my smallest drill bit and (after using a sharp punch to put a starting mark in top of the broken screw) very carefully drilled it out. My plan was to drill a real small hole and then jb weld a small hex wrench into the hole and just back the screw out (have done this before). However, because it was on a remington 700 action and the scope mount screws go all the way through the top of the receiver, once I got the drill bit started, it just screwed the broken screw straight down and through the receiver where it fell out safely. No damage to the threads at all. Would have been even easier with a drill press. You might give it a try to save a few bucks if you have the nerve.

Thought about it. I am not sure all of the caffeine would allow me to have a hand that is steady enough for that. Last thing i wanted was to scratch the receiver of bugger the threads. I need to get a drill press some day, they would be very helpful. I already dropped it off at the smith. Im sure he will have it done in a couple minutes.

Next time try touching the tip of a soldering iron to the screw for about a minute, then it should back out.

I have had success backing out "stuck" filler screws with the appropriate size left hand drill bit. In my situation this method worked like a charm. Purchased a set of bits at Harbor Freight for $10.00.

Apply heat. I sometimes use a hair dryer and get metal too hot to touch without gloves. The other thing that has worked for me was to put a few drops of Kroil oil in a small plastic container and microwave it to get it very hot. Then drip it onto the area. Drilling out the filler screws should be a last resort.