Jason999
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Put it in a vice, with protection of course. Then use a punch and hammer to work on the screw. If it does not move easily little oil and light heat. Work it some more. If you can get it to start to move you're there, just keep working it around until you can grab it with something.So I'm tearing down my Berthier and one of the butt plate screws is beat to death, with nearly no slot left.
As the top of the screw is almost flush with the plate I can't just use a hacksaw to make a new slot. Maybe I can use a dremel with a slitting disc?
Any ideas on this?
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Best advice yet!1) Are you sure that you need to take that buttplate off ?
2) If so, it looks like you could clean up that slot with a Dremel and a cut-off disk.
3) Use a hollow ground gunsmith screwdriver, not a hardware store screwdriver.
This....... From the picture that looks like a brass screw so it should be soft and clean out the slot fairly easy. Just make sure you use a very tight fitting screwdriver when removing as said elsewhere above.Similar to the pounding a small screwdriver into the screw head method... without the pounding and possibly buggering up the threading in the wood...... use a sharp chisel the approximate full size of the screw head. Simple downward pressure may be enough to get the chisel to "bite" and remove the screw. If that's not enough, you can tap it lightly to score the metal and give your chisel some more bite, but don't pound excessively.
Penetrating oil is likely to be helpful but I would not use any heat. Heat will degrade the wood in the screw hole and likely require it to be drilled, plugged and redrilled when you are ready to remount the buttplate.
The least invasive is your better option if you plan to recut the slot (once it's removed) and reuse the screw.
At some point it was covered in a polyurethane. Not even a good job, big drips and sags. I have to strip that garbage off and give it a respectable finish.1) Are you sure that you need to take that buttplate off ?
That battered screw head is part of the rifle's story.
Ouch, damn shame. Many here have obviously used the "Tim the Tool Man" approach in the past.At some point it was covered in a polyurethane. Not even a good job, big drips and sags. I have to strip that garbage off and give it a respectable finish.
Maybe send/message me the dimensions of that screw I have quite a selection of old original butt plate screws and may have a match I could send you. May even have a butt plate, you never know with pack rats.........I padded my vice, used a fine 1/4" chisel to open up the slot. Ground a screwdriver to be extra thin the then used that. It unscrewed nice and easy.
Thanks everyone.
Now I just need to strip off all that polyurethane.
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Looking damn good so far. Should be very satisfying when you get it all done!! Congrats!Deadeye
Thanks for the offer but I've recut the slot in it and it will work just fine now.
I've even got that polyurethane off of it. Just have to stain and linseed oil it now.
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