This screw won't budge!

Not having to do with the screw but the mention of frozen nipple brings to mind a possible cure for rusted in nipples. I once had to use a trick I learned from cheezy soft Japanese bolts on transmissions. I found a 1/4" drive 12 point socket just a tad smaller than the nipple and drove it onto the nipple. It cut it's own splines onto the nipple and it came unscrewed using a ratchet. This was after trying penetrating oil and heat. Probably the shock and shrinking from squeezing the nipple down a bit maybe helped!

First

jonathan butcher said:

Have been trying unsuccessfully to remove a trigger guard screw from a 1993 Uberti made 1858 Remington revolver for the last 24hrs and am now solicitng suggestions. Have treated it with WD40 penetrating oil for 24hrs, also gave it a tap to try and loosen whatever is holding it there but so far, nada. This screw won't budge. Any tricks of the trade to share ?

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First, DO NOT RUSH. Most of the penitrating oils work, but I've had really good luck using bio diesel. Let soak and tap screw lightly every few hours with also some pressure to try to turn the screw. I've had old guns that a customer with to much money wanted made shootable again just to hang on his den walls. Normally I would try to talk him from doing this. I'm talking about really rusted relics picked up out in the desert (and I'm not allowed to tell where). But the main trick is take lots of time, and yes I really like WD-40 but not for heavy penitrating. Good luck

Last summer I was in the process of completely disassembling and cleaning (most likely the first time ever) an 1899 Unmentionable rifle.

Well the two bottom tang screws that secure the main spring would not budge.

I took the buttstock off, filled a jar with Hoppes # 9 and let the tang rest completely submerged in the Hoppes for two weeks after which both screws came out like they were installed the day before.

I discovered a 1/4" hand impact wrench on Amazon (where else? among other places). I'm fighting to loosen a pair of firmly rusted in nipples on a SBS. It's the next tool I plan to use.

A soldering gun to the screw itself- or to the brass frame around the screw ?

Newtire said:

If it's on there with loctite, penetatng oil probbly won't help. Heat turns loctite into goo. Ask any Ford crossmember or Japanese transmission bolt. A soldering gun or microtorch usually does the deed.

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Hillbilly Delux said:

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That's the tool I found. Haven't tried it yet, but not trying to do fine work with a standard sized impact makes more sense to me. That's like trying to pull a brad with a crowbar; control's hard but damage is easy.

Flinty Scot said:

I discovered a 1/4" hand impact wrench on Amazon (where else? among other places). I'm fighting to loosen a pair of firmly rusted in nipples on a SBS. It's the next tool I plan to use.

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When you go to remove those nipples, you need to secure the cylinder. I use two dowel that fit the chamber. Using opposite holes, I place the dowels in a heavy bench vise with the cylinder above the jaws of the vise. Then you can tap away with your impact tool. I used a 5 mm hex socket to make a nipple wrench to be used in my impact tool.

I found my impact tool at Harbor Freight some years ago and no longer on the shelves. With these tools, you only want to tap and turn once you have the tool turned to apply impact type torque to the stuck part.


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jonathan butcher said:

A soldering gun to the screw itself- or to the brass frame around the screw ?

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If it's loctited, heat to the screw is easier than trying to heat the whole frame. Sometimes, it helps loosen things up with heating and cooling even if it moves the metal just a little bit. Theoretically, expanding the hole that the screw is in is ideal but just might be hard to accomplish. By the time you get the frame hot, the screw will probably be hot too.

Jonathan, have you heard of using JB-80 to free stuck fasteners? A friend looked into selling their products (Justice Brothers) and was required to attend a company demonstration first; attendees were able to try just about every available product to free rusted bolts, etc. and he was astonished at the performance of their product. He didn't become a salesman but his testimony caused myself and others to try it with very good results.

jonathan butcher said:

A soldering gun to the screw itself- or to the brass frame around the screw ?

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The screw threads into the steel frame and that's where it's frozen. Heating the brass trigger guard won't help.

Tangential to the topic- curse you Locktite! In my humble opinion there are few good uses for it associated with guns or gunsmithing. There are other of ways to treat a screw which might be backing out under recoil other than fusing it into place.
The more I think about how solid the screw of mine is in this triggerguard, the more I suspect Locktite as the culprit. I ordered a new solder gun yesterday on Amazon ( who else), it's supposed to arrive today. When it does I'm going to apply heat to the screw, if it solves my problem I'll know. I also ordered an impact driver on the advice of a member who posted above.
Am considering how much heat to apply, to make contact with the solder gun and screw ?

If the Chapman bits are 1/4", either Brownells or Wheeler bits will fill almost any slotted screw head. Hollow ground bits work best at filling the slot, less chance of buggering up the screw slot.

Newtire said:

If it's on there with loctite, penetatng oil probbly won't help. Heat turns loctite into goo. Ask any Ford crossmember or Japanese transmission bolt. A soldering gun or microtorch usually does the deed.

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I use a soldering iron to apply localized heat.

If loctite is the problem then heat is the answer. About 450* will do it. Springs will be fine up to 600* or so. I would also tap the screw slot back to perfect an use a Wheeler screwdriver bit that fits exactly. With the frame in a padded vice would lean over it and push straight down and rock it a few degrees. If it feels mushy it my be twisting the screw in half. Being a case hardened frame breaking the screw head off is a can of worms.

I tried heat via solder gun today but with no movement in the spring. I'm wondering if I held it long enough to achieve a result. What generally would you do- 3min ? 5min ? Longer ?
I'm also applying Kroil to the screw.

Scota@4570 said:

If loctite is the problem then heat is the answer. About 450* will do it. Springs will be fine up to 600* or so. I would also tap the screw slot back to perfect an use a Wheeler screwdriver bit that fits exactly. With the frame in a padded vice would lean over it and push straight down and rock it a few degrees. If it feels mushy it my be twisting the screw in half. Being a case hardened frame breaking the screw head off is a can of worms.

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The factory never put Loctite on that screw or any other for that matter though it is possible some misguided sole did later. Heat won't hurt anyway and 5 minutes isn't too long. Be wary, those screws have thin heads and it's possible to snap half of the head off and then you have a real problem.

You need the best frozen screw removal tool made....time and patience!

Heat the whole frame with a propane torch. Shoot for about 500*F.

There are different grades (strengths) of Loctite. If the correct one was used for small screws, heat will not be necessary.

I separated a couple of stuck porcelain nesting bowls one time by heating the outside bowl in boiling water and putting ice in the inside one. The expansion / contraction differential between them was enough to do the trick. Maybe you can do the same thing here? Heat the outside and cool the screw? If you have a doctor friend they often keep a supply of liquid nitrogen on hand for freezing off warts and skin tags. I don't know if the extreme cold will make the screw shank brittle or not though.

Brass conducts heat at a much faster rate than steel so be aware of that too while you're doing your science experiment. Try all the previously mentioned suggestions first though.