I was working on bedding a new laminate stock for my savage and took everything off the action except the picitanny base. I tried to take it of but using the allen wrench supplied with the base I could not budge the screws and even broke off the head of the wrench in a screw, so the base is now staying. I have used blue locktite in the past with good results, but had heard of using clear nail polish, and had some on hand so I used it as a thread locker. I blame that stuff. I don't need the base off any time soon, so it's not a big deal. But for when I do, does anyone have any advice on how to get the screws out and get the wrench head out of the screw? I can always drill out the screws if necessary. Oh and the bedding job turned out well, though I did have one issue with the bedding compound going up the front action screw and temporarily locking the stock and action together.
Thanks for all advice.
Kyle
first of all blue Loctite, or 242 is made for screws larger than 1/4", and not recommended for anything smaller than a #10 screw (even that's marginal). You should be using purple, or 222 Loctite.
Now is the time to remove the bad screw, and it's really not as bad as it looks. You said Allen wrench, and then you said Torx. Which one? The Torx is actually easier to get it due to the way they are splined. The hex key will often twist into the metal of the screw, and can be a pain in the rear to get out. If the wrench head will move around a little bit, you might try a magnet. Won't work? OK, we need a good soldering iron, a very fine ***** punch, and a small hammer. First try to work the wrench head loose with the ***** punch (sometimes you can also do this with an ice pick, but be careful not to break the tip off and then make it even tighter). OK you got the wrench head out of the screw! Now you'll need a wrench that fits tight in the damaged screw head. Here's some tricks I've used in the past (I've literally removed hundreds of those small screws in the past):
* to get a wrench to fit the hex socket often means you have to revert to the wrong sized wrench. I've used metric in SAE and vise versa. Another trick is brass shim stock wrapped around the hex key
* Loctite melts at about 220 degrees, and a soldering iron will do the trick nicely without messing with the action. Forget a torch!!!! Heated steel will almost always shrink after being heated very hot, and then makes the thread fit even tighter. But with the soldering iron most all the heat is in the screw itself. If you have a good drill press, look for a left hand drill and the soldering iron. If the drill press will not run counter clockwise, then use the tap drill size and drill the head off the thread. Then heat the remaining thread part and remove it with a small pair of vise grips.
* with a broken stub left in the screw, you have the choice of a carbide brill bit or the Hi-Roc. I'd go with the Hi-Roc everytime over a standard carbide drill bit. It will cut thru 99% of the allen and torx wrenches. Just make sure you have a good solid vise and table mount. I recommend a Bridgeport mill. Be sure to run a tap in the holes before going back together.
gary
