jbercaw Welcome to the Forum from Canada, many of the take down screws were put in too tight at the factory. Once you get it to open up I would suggest putting a No.61 O-ring in with it when its time to retighten it back down or set it at around 40 inch lbs with a torque wrench. You may have to use a extension of some kind to unlock it for the 1st time like many others have done.