CSEMARTIN Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 I picked up a revolver a few months back, and the strain screw kept working its way out. To remedy this, I applied some Permatex High Strength Threadlocker Red to the threads. Now I can't get the strain screw out. In fact, I bent (or torqued I should say) a brand new screwdriver trying to get it out. You wouldn't believe how pitiful the strain screw looks now. How in the heck am I going to get this screw out? I really need and appreciate someones help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Lee Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 (edited) Greetings, If you have a vise to hold the gun by the barrel( pad the vise jaws to prevent marring), gently heat the head of the screw using a propane torch. Set the torch on low so as not to discolor the frame metal. Move the tip of the flame over the head and then pull it away. The threadlock will begin to break down and smoke. Once you see the smoke begin to rise, use a screwdriver to break the screw loose. It should begin to move fairly easily. If not, reapply heat to smoke point and repeat. It should break free. Good luck! Randy Edited January 5, 2006 by Randy Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standles Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Same general advice as Randy with one diference. I didn't use a propane torch I used a soldering iron on the screw head. Takes a little longer I am sure but I was alot less nervous than waving a propane torch around. LOL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBF Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Or you can heat that already ruined screwdriver with the torch and use it to transfer the heat to the screw. This would keep the torch off the gun entirely. Use a different screwdriver to unscrew the screw while still hot. Travis F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlamoShooter Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Sorry I had to get a grin out of it I like a heat gun better = it is like a hair dryer on steroids. If you dont have a soldering iron or toruch You can get heat gun at Home Depot in the paint dept for about $20.00 You can always use it for stripping paint later and you wife may not frown at the new one time tool that way. The heat gun is grat for forming the holsters too if you need to / wont to shape one. = like a Safariland. When you heet the screw a tap or two will help to 'hit'/tap the end of a solid screw driver with somthing the size of a soup spoon. tap it like you were driving the screw to twist it at the same time. put heet, twist and tap And just so you dont feel bad ,, one night with out my glasses I put one drop of the Blue locktight on a ?? screw I didn't see that one drop went war i could see, but five or more went war i didn't see and gooped up stuff that needed hours to clean up the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 Well guys, thanks for the information. I'm afraid my problem may have gotten worse. I drilled through the screw very carefully (so I didn't injur any of the threads). Then I used a screw extractor (supposedly made from tempered steel) to remove the strain screw. Everything seemed to be going well until the screw extractor snapped in half. I gave up after two hours. I asked my wife to take it to a local gunsmith for me. She said the guys there were making fun of me when they saw what I had done. I called them yesterday to see how things were going. They didn't seem to be in any big hurry. I guess I don't blame them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 (edited) Well guys, thanks for the information. I'm afraid my problem may have gotten worse. Dude, four separate people here, including the best working revolversmith on the planet, advised you to apply heat to break the loctite. And so you decided to drill it instead?? Edited January 8, 2006 by Carmoney Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrispies Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Sorry I had to get a grin out of itI like a heat gun better = it is like a hair dryer on steroids. If you dont have a soldering iron or toruch You can get heat gun at Home Depot in the paint dept for about $20.00 You can always use it for stripping paint later and you wife may not frown at the new one time tool that way. The heat gun is grat for forming the holsters too if you need to / wont to shape one. = like a Safariland. When you heet the screw a tap or two will help to 'hit'/tap the end of a solid screw driver with somthing the size of a soup spoon. tap it like you were driving the screw to twist it at the same time. put heet, twist and tap +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 Carmoney and everyone who has tried to help me, I meant no disrespect. In fact, I do respect everyone that has taken their time to help. Sincerely, I greatly appreciate everyones help. I didn't decide to drill after the fact. I drilled before reading the responses. Had I not been such an impatient moron, I would have waited. Certainly, I would be better off....... I think my choice of words, "Well guys, thanks for the information" has been taken the wrong way. After reading the last two posts, I see now how my choice of words could be taken as flippant/disrespectful. Honestly, I meant nothing by it! On a side note, I went to Randy Lee's website. I was greatly impessed by something I found on his site. For the first time, I saw a gunsmith require some kind of standard of the shooter before performing a trigger job on a 1911. That's incredibly responsible and to be commended. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipscron2000 Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 I Was Left Unsupervised With Permatex Threadlocker, Please help me Sounds like one of my statements Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Carmoney and everyone who has tried to help me,I meant no disrespect. In fact, I do respect everyone that has taken their time to help. Sincerely, I greatly appreciate everyones help. I didn't decide to drill after the fact. I drilled before reading the responses. Chris, it's cool. Sorry if my response sounded a little less friendly than our usual banter here, I didn't really mean it to come across that way, I was mostly just looking for a chance to use the little blinky smiley-face. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 A stuck screw? Hell, you should see the mess I can make with a Dremel! Don't sweat it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 You guys are all-right! I'm still kicking myself......... Anyway, hopefully there will be a happy ending to this entire ordeal!!!!! On one hand, it's kind of funny, but it's irritating nonetheless. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself...... Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkrispies Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 (edited) You guys are all-right!I'm still kicking myself......... Anyway, hopefully there will be a happy ending to this entire ordeal!!!!! On one hand, it's kind of funny, but it's irritating nonetheless. Hey, if you can't laugh at yourself...... Chris Is there enough of the screw extractor sticking out that you could grab it with a vise-grip, heat the offending screw, and then remove it all in one chunk? Or... by the "strain screw," I'm assuming you mean the screw that presses against the mainspring to adjust trigger/hammer tension? If so, could you remove the mainspring and try to grab the end that's protruding inside the gun (normally against the spring) with a vise-grip and loosen it up that way? If the head of the screw is already gone, then it might even be possible to screw it all the way threw this way. Or, you could notch the top of it and maybe use a flathead screwdriver to screw it all the way through after loosening the locktite. If none of this works, feel free to mail the revolver to me, and I'll just try to make due with it in my own collection... Edited January 8, 2006 by jkrispies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFD Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 It's a good idea to read the loctite package before using it. The package states heat is the only way to defeat it. I doubt if you'd ever find a shooter who hasn't been a "impatient moron" and screwed something up at one time or another. The key is NOT being a repeat offender (too often anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Lee Posted January 8, 2006 Share Posted January 8, 2006 Patience is definitely a learned response- at least it was for me. If this work has taught me anything, it's patience. Oh, and learn from my mistakes. One day, I suspect you will laugh about it. Case in point- My first 1911 customizing project was on an Auto Ordnance(my own). I figured if Bruce Gray could do it, I could too. I don't think I told Bruce this story yet, but I will. In any event, after friction welding the bushing to the barrel(fitting a match bushing), cracking the slide behind the thumb safety cut( slide tightening), slicing my palm open and Dremel "checkering" the mainspring housing- which more closely resembled alien crop circles than checkering, I finally understood what patience meant in the grand scheme of things. Patience and the right tools for the job. The smith should be able to remove the offending screw extractor. I'll bet they have broken a few drills, taps and reamers in the course of their work and have learned to remove the broken bits without any evidence that the event occured at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hearthco Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Patience is definitely a learned response- at least it was for me. If this work has taught me anything, it's patience. Oh, and learn from my mistakes. One day, I suspect you will laugh about it. Case in point- My first 1911 customizing project was on an Auto Ordnance(my own). I figured if Bruce Gray could do it, I could too. I don't think I told Bruce this story yet, but I will. In any event, after friction welding the bushing to the barrel(fitting a match bushing), cracking the slide behind the thumb safety cut( slide tightening), slicing my palm open and Dremel "checkering" the mainspring housing- which more closely resembled alien crop circles than checkering, I finally understood what patience meant in the grand scheme of things. Patience and the right tools for the job. The smith should be able to remove the offending screw extractor. I'll bet they have broken a few drills, taps and reamers in the course of their work and have learned to remove the broken bits without any evidence that the event occured at all. Thats why we have CARBIDE!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 JFD, As it turns out, I didn't read the packaging! Now I wish I had. I've never been one to read directions. I get thoughts in my head, and something inside me says- do it! jkrispies, I wish I could try your idea, but I got to the pistol before I listened to anyone, and I messed everything up. In my brilliant decision to drill the screw, I did remove the mainspring. Then I cut off what portion was sticking through with my dremel tool. Then I drilled from both sides. It went downhill from there. I finally got a screw extractor to take a bite. All was well until I heard/felt/saw it snap in half. I decided to fire myself from the job and get some professional help. I really do appreciate everyones input. This has been a humbling and huge learning experience. I wish I could go back in time because I really think it's fun to play with blow torches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Lee Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 I really do appreciate everyones input. This has been a humbling and huge learning experience. I wish I could go back in time because I really think it's fun to play with blow torches. I like mine so much, I had to get one for my kitchen. Mmmm... Creme Brulee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 If this was a S&W and you have suffeciently worked it over I would get the gun back from the local gunsmith and send it to S&W. The very least they don't know you and you won't run into snide remarks and snickers behind your back. They can also check it out and make sure everything else is good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSEMARTIN Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 It's fixed! I picked my revolver up today. There were signs of a struggle so I don't feel so bad. Everything is o.k. I'm going to put everything back together in a few minutes. Thanks again guys, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.carden Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Excellent Chris !!! Good luck on the re-assemble and remember................"BLUE" lock-tite this time !!! Dan.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carmoney Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 It's fixed!I picked my revolver up today. There were signs of a struggle so I don't feel so bad. Everything is o.k. I'm going to put everything back together in a few minutes. Thanks again guys, Chris KOOL! Glad they didn't make you wait too long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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