One of my major peeves are folks that never learned to use the proper screwdriver to tighten gun screws. The second group are those that believe 150 ft./lbs. of torque is about right.

Take a few minutes and look over guns on the used gun racks as I do whenever I have some free time. Observe the condition of the guard screws on the triggerguard and floorplate and the scope screws. I tend to pass on used guns with buggered screws. It makes we wonder what the previous owner did once he got inside the gun.

Today I picked up a used, but like-new Marlin Model 25 bolt action with a 4X scope real cheap. I cleaned it and decided to take the action out of the stock to put some Tru-Oil on the wood. It took nearly 100 ft./lbs. of effort to loosen the action screw. I would like to talk with the chap that did that. All the best...
Gil

Howdy Gil I know what you mean. I have a laser bore siter i have in my shooting box and have bin at the range and people ask if i will bore site there gun and i am always amazed at the scope screws 2 out of 3 are mangled if they used loc-tite they will probably never get them loose. People just don't seem to want to take the time and use the proper tools to do it correctly it gets to me to!!!

Yea it bothers me too to see buggered up screws. I wish they used HEX bolts on everything... of course that would just mean people can then tighten to 250lbs torque


-DallanC

I don't know. I've got some rifle screws that look gawd-awful. I have a Lyman tool that has a bunch of different screw types and sizes that store in the top of the unit. These are considered tips for "gun screws." However, the tips are awfully soft and often bend badly. They won't remove a screw if it's really tight so I've resorted to regular screwdrivers that have hardened tips. They do a number on the gun screws, scarring them up a good bit. I'm not sure what the solution is to this, but I'm open to suggestions. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

The trick is to use hollow ground screwdrivers or screwdriver bits. Most screwdrivers have a chisel type point that does not fully contact the screw slot and tend to be forced up out of the screw slot. A properly sized hollow gound bit will give the maximum contact area and require very little down force to keep the bit in the slot and prevent slippage.

Here is a picture of some common blades and No.6, a hollow ground bit. (courtesy of Forster Products) No. 1 is an example of grinding a bit.



It only takes a few disgrunted customers to encourage someone working on guns to invest in a good set of screwdrivers. Gunsmith screwdrivers are avaliable from Wheeler Engineering,Forster Products and Brownells just to name a few.

Another tool that seems to puzzle some is a torque wrench!

Bill

BillPa wrote:

Another tool that seems to puzzle some is a torque wrench!

And importantly

Inch-Lbs != Foot-Lbs !!!!


-DallanC

Most people ust the german method goodintite!

ROFL!


-DallanC

shrpshtrjoe wrote:

Most people ust the german method goodintite!

Good one shrpshtrjoe, although I thought that term was only applied to German Frauliens, or then again, maybe that is Nischentiten. Some wonderful words in the German language. I like the one that describes big noisy guns....Earschplittenloudenboomer, very descriptive.

I like the screws that Volvo put into their vehicles (yeah, I admit that I drive one of them Swedish Fords, sorry guys). They used star head screws. I think they are better than hex heads and they are streets ahead of both phillips head and slotted screws.

They can be overtightened, like any sort of threaded screw/bolt, but I suppose that nothing will stop people from doing that, especially if they have had a screw work loose on them. This was a problem that caused Breakfree CLP from being withdrawn from use in the Australian Defence Force (allegedly). The claim was that it caused screws to loosen as it was "penetrating" the threads.

Vince