642-1 Grip Screw Removal Difficulty = Solved!

TucsonMTB · Sep 18, 2013

Hey, everyone!

Sorry for the newbie question, but I just bought a like new 642-1 with black, rubbery plastic, S&W grips that use a single screw with a hex head visible on the left side. Very nice looking. Would like to keep them. Still, I need to pull the grips off to examine the pistol's internals.

Problem: I can't get the 3/32 hex head screw loose. I started with a standard, short armed hex wrench but couldn't keep it in the screw head well enough to be sure I wouldn't strip the head.

Next, I took a good fitting 3/32 wrench and clamped it in a vise grips, close to the tip, to provide a generous handle so I could put lots of force inward and loosen the screw it without stripping anything. It won't budge. The short piece of wrench extending from the vise grip jaws started to twist before I backed off.

Yes, I am trying to turn the screw counter clockwise to loosen it. I trust that the screw has ordinary right hand threads, correct?

Has anyone else experienced similar difficulty? If so, is there a solution?

Suggestions welcomed.

This is really embarrassing. I have always considered myself reasonably capable with tools.

slabside2 · Sep 18, 2013

YES! I just picked up a brand new 438 and had the same problem. There was no way that screw was loosening up. I had to cut the screw head off the grips with a dremmel tool. The grips are now trash. I didn't want them anyway but I could have sold them on eBay. It's alway something when you buy a new Smith

good luck with yours.
Mike

TucsonMTB · Sep 19, 2013

slabside2 said:
YES! I just picked up a brand new 438 and had the same problem. . . good luck with yours.
Mike

Thanks, for the good luck wish, Mike! It must have worked. I got mine loose and everything still looks good.

In my tool box is a big, old folding Allen key set that looks a lot like this borrowed image.

As you can see, the body is metal and shaped just right to hit with a hammer.

So, I cushioned the J-frame on a solid wooden work bench surface with several layers of a folded up towel, inserted the end of the Allen key in the screw, and whacked the tool with a hammer a couple of times.

Then the really large gripping surface of the Allen key set provided enough leverage to really torque that screw . . . and it broke free. Yes!

Once everything was apart, closer examination of the half of the grip with the threaded bushing suggests that the rough end of the screw was firmly embedded in the plastic beyond the bushing.

Needless to say, I ground down and lightly polished the end of the screw so that it will not grip the plastic the next time it is over tightened. After all, the factory is not the only place where you can find folks who occasionally over tighten things.

Now, some old timer will probably come along and comment about "using the right tool for the job" . . . even if it is a hammer. He will be right!

Life is good.

slabside2 · Sep 19, 2013

Great!. You had better luck then I had. That's kind of what I tried but It still wouldn't budge. I stripped the screw head after 5 or 6 try's. See what happens when you use the right tool for the right job

Mike

XAVMECH · Sep 19, 2013

642 grip screw

Just chiming in that I had the same experience with my new 642, when changing out the grips. Any thoughts of having an extra set of grips were erased rather quickly....even with the "right" tooling. Hmmm

MikeyB · Sep 19, 2013

I used a T handle drive. It was a bear to get loose but it did finally broke free with enough torque.

TucsonMTB · Sep 19, 2013

Thank you, gentlemen. Glad I am not the only one.

I guess, on the positive side . . . S&W probably gets very few complaints about the grip screw loosening up unexpectedly.

So far, everything else is great. I popped in an Apex spring set, but did not replace the stock firing pin because the Apex replacement measured same length as the original, within a thousandth of an inch.

I did do a little light polishing on the recoil slide. Okay, it looks like a mirror on the back and bottom.

The trigger was "not bad" to start with. Now it is "really nice" even though I have just started dry firing to wear everything in.

I think this is going to be a great little pocket gun. We are off to the range this morning to see how well I can shoot it.

BJoe · Sep 19, 2013

Wait till someday you get a handgun and find a previous owner used RED LOCK-TITE on threads.

Edmo · Sep 19, 2013

When my new-in-the-box 642CT arrived from S&W at my FFL's, the Crimson Trace laser grips were buggered up. The grip screw looked like a day-one shop student had tried to tighten it and slipped out several times while bending and gouging the screw slot.

I guess not everyone is "checked out" on the use of screwdrivers.

Edmo

mcopilot · Dec 9, 2016

Guys slow down your destroying your pistols. The screw is a star T-10 so it needs a star T-10 wrench and it will come right out. The sell the set at lowes it looks like the fold up allen wrench set but it s a start wrench.

italiansport · Dec 9, 2016

BJoe said:
Wait till someday you get a handgun and find a previous owner used RED LOCK-TITE on threads.

I think this may be the problem I'm facing with a Ruger Blackhawk grip frame. I've got the screws soaking in Loc Tite so we'll see.
Jim

Taipan01 · Dec 10, 2016

mcopilot said:
Guys slow down your destroying your pistols. The screw is a star T-10 so it needs a star T-10 wrench and it will come right out. The sell the set at lowes it looks like the fold up allen wrench set but it s a start wrench.

My 642 has a 3/32 hex head (allen wrench) screw securing the grip and not a T-10. I just double checked it after reading the post. I've removed the grips when first purchased for an initial cleaning. Snug which is what I expected but no problems.

one eye joe · Dec 10, 2016

mcopilot said:
Guys slow down your destroying your pistols. The screw is a star T-10 so it needs a star T-10 wrench and it will come right out. The sell the set at lowes it looks like the fold up allen wrench set but it s a start wrench.

AAAAAH----PROBLEM SOLVED ! ! !

Pond Scum 43 · Dec 10, 2016

I hope you are really not soaking your grip screw in loc tite Italiansport!

642-1 Grip Screw Removal Difficulty = Solved!

TucsonMTB

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slabside2

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TucsonMTB

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slabside2

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XAVMECH

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MikeyB

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TucsonMTB

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BJoe

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Edmo

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mcopilot

italiansport

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Taipan01

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one eye joe

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Pond Scum 43

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