Thread: How to remove stripped scope ring screw?

Originally Posted by Synthetic

Silly me, should be cutting between the ring pieces.

That sounds painful!

What area of Hamilton are you in? I have a screw extractor set but don’t know if it will do that small, it says quarter inch/M3 for the smallest one. I also have a dremel and cutting discs.

Drill the head off the screw, then lift the top half of the ring off. This will leave more exposed screw material to work with.

You should be able to get vice grips clamped tight on what's left and turn out.

Those look like trademe aluminium rings on your VX3. Ok on rimfires - not sure I'd use them for anything else. From my experience some are made from soft ali and its easy to strip threads etc. Cheapies - about $7 for a new set on trademe:

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...9?bof=KNF3IRp5

If screw doesn't come out easy, I'd drill straight thru the ring hole and toss them away. Then grab some new ones, or better still buy some steels for that VX3.

Originally Posted by Cigar

That sounds painful!

What area of Hamilton are you in? I have a screw extractor set but don’t know if it will do that small, it says quarter inch/M3 for the smallest one. I also have a dremel and cutting discs.

Oops, eighth of an inch/M3, not quarter inch.

pry the ring open from the other side...and keep prying untill either something gives/breaks or you can open far enough to get scope out.drilling head of screw out makes perfect sence to me...I gave in and gave mine to someone else before I took to it with angle grinder,the frustration level was that high.

Oxy torch? heat the rings up until they expand enough to slip the scope out.

Nooooo

Learnt from engineers working out bush to make a paste out of grease and either fine sand or fine metal fillings and then dob the mixture into the fastener head.
I guess the mixture fills in the voids between the tool and damaged fastener and doesn’t easily compress, giving the tool more bight and purchase on the fastener your trying to turn.
Wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. Used it on phillips, hex, torx fasteners and such like.
Certainly not fool proof but works surprisingly often.

one of these days someone will make Stainless steel screws with square head hole.....and this will overnight become a NON issue forever more.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

one of these days someone will make Stainless steel screws with square head hole.....and this will overnight become a NON issue forever more.

Like everything, they money selling you the parts, not the original item.

Originally Posted by Moutere

Learnt from engineers working out bush to make a paste out of grease and either fine sand or fine metal fillings and then dob the mixture into the fastener head.
I guess the mixture fills in the voids between the tool and damaged fastener and doesn’t easily compress, giving the tool more bight and purchase on the fastener your trying to turn.
Wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. Used it on phillips, hex, torx fasteners and such like.
Certainly not fool proof but works surprisingly often.

Ill have to give this a try @Moutere

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

one of these days someone will make Stainless steel screws with square head hole.....and this will overnight become a NON issue forever more.

That won't work - every time someone makes something idiot-proof, someone else invents a better idiot!

yes in the case if those rings i would cut between the rings with the Dremel very carefully as you dont want to cut the scope
the other option is to drill the head off the screw
this will fuck the rings but they look like a cheaper set anyway so probaly no issues to sacrifice them to save the scope potentially getting damaged the other way

Originally Posted by rupert

Those rings look like Chinese ones which come with cheese for screws. I found success in the past on several occasions, with the same type of scope rings tightened up to the point of no return by the same MR Ham Hand. First get a new drill (not Chinese)which will just fit inside the hole in the head of the screw and create a shallow starter hole with your trusty Makita. Then drill the head off the screw with a new drill (not Chinese) that is slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of the screw, driven slowly with several pauses to check progress. It does not take very much work to drill into the head to the point that the head will fall off (because the screws are made from cheese). Total time, about 15 minutes.

Sounds like those rings were made on the same studio that makes Wallace and Grommet

Screw extractor will work for that. Done it a couple of times before - almost always with Chinese made rings.
Otherwise, drilling the head off the screw will allow you to release the scope.... Refer to Ruperts instructions regarding Chinese cheese screws