Removing Loctited Leupold Rings and Mount

v35

July 20, 2012 21:49

I bought a nice Model 70 , 243 having a 4x Leopold scope and mount. I want to remove and replace the Leupold with a Balvar or other more powerful vari-power scope and mount.
The rings take Allen head screws taking .108" Allen wrench that absolutely wont budge any screw.
I assume they are Loctited.
I need a non destructive method of removal short of chopping up rings and mount.
I don't want to put much heat into the scope or rings.
Any constructive comments would be appreciated.

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  BHAVIN

  July 20, 2012 22:13

  A little heat and taping the Allen wrench while in the screw may help. Must be fairly old ones if they aren't Torx.
  
  I would try the tapping first you may not need the heat.

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  Ray Boone

  July 20, 2012 22:39

  I would remove the scope and bolt, and the action/barrel from the stock. Invert and place in a shallow container that you can toss when through. Ideally the bases should be very close to the bottom of the container. Then spray the screw holes holding the bases from the inside of the action. I've found Hoppes Blast dissolves most anything while not damaging the metal. Not knowing what may have been used to secure the screws complicates it a bit- it may have been nail polish, in which an acetone base solvent will loosen it. But you can try various dissolving agents- Everclear (95% grain alcohol) works well on somethings (if you can get it in your state) or petroleum based solvents- you may want to let the action soak in the selected solvent for a few hours & this is best done outside with open air. About the only real problem will be if the previous owner decided to make the mount permanent by coating the screws with a "rusting" agent, so that when screwed in tight the screw would rust to the action. If this is the case about the only thing to do is take it to a machine shop where they can accurately drill out the screws with minimal contact with the action, then rethread the action for the bases.

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  rufe-snow

  July 21, 2012 00:03

  My understand is that putting locktighted parts,(barreled action, less bolt), in a freezer overnight causes the epoxy in the locktight to fail/degrade. Unfortunately this might or might not cause problems with the scope internally?

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  Grasshopper

  July 21, 2012 02:41

  Good luck---I have had a screw set drilled out because nothing worked--maybe you will have better results/

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  Mobuck

  July 21, 2012 03:10

  I've used a soldering iron held against the screw head to soften old loktite successfully. Highly unlikely that anything that won't damage something in/on the scope will penetrate to break the bond.

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  bartman45

  July 21, 2012 03:32

  I've had good luck removing thread locked items by heating the screwdriver; however, only color product I've used is the blue. May be some lockers that will need heat to allow removal.

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  Jim Rehm

  July 21, 2012 03:49

  Rather than using a standard allen wrench,get a 1/4" insert bit of the correct size. This will allow you to use much more downward pressure on the screw to avoid camming the wrench out of the socket and distorting the hole. If you have a drill press and drill press vice available put the bit in the chuck and bring the quill down and lock it and then use the headstock pulley to turn the spindle. As mentioned using a soldering iron to concentrate heat on the screw head will also help. If you want to sacrifice a screwdriver bit, heat a bit red hot and put it into the socket and let the heat transfer and then apply the good bit and attempt to turn the screw.

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  montanajoe

  • Community moderator

  July 21, 2012 05:23

  this may be helpful,,,
  http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=427515

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  tjh1948

  July 21, 2012 06:12

  Loctite makes an aersol product, Freeze & Release, that may help.
  It is an industrial product that usually can be obtained at Automotive stores and Graingers. Loctite advertises it for frozen bolts & nuts that are corroded, but it will work for some screws that have been loctited.

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  charliemeyer007

  July 21, 2012 08:47

  If it's loctite heat should do the job. Methy Ethyl Ketone Peroxide (MEK) is a way better solvent than just acetone, be aware of the MSDS. There are other things that Bubba could have used that will require way harder methods to seperate the parts.

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