Rick H.
Member
A friend came to me with a problem and I could use some helpful opinions on the best course of action. He installed a Trijicon RMR red dot sight on his CZ Shadow slide. As a precaution to notice if the hold down screws were coming loose, he marked them with a very small "line" of paint from a paint pen. He thinks it is an oil based paint. Sounded like a good idea so far, but now he wants to remove the screws and they won't budge at all so he asked me to look at it. Looking at the screws under my magnifying glass lamp it appears the paint that he used migrated around the screw heads and between the sight base screw holes effectively locking the screws in place.
The screws use a #8 torx bit. This problem is compounded by the fact the electronics for the RMR to function is around these screws and I would image some type of a printed circuit board under the outer case for the sight. My first thought was to try and heat up the screws with a soldering gun by holding the tip against the screw head and waiting for a heat transfer to take place. This transfer didn't take place and I broke a Torx bit attempting this.
Unless someone has a better idea, my next best guess is to use a chemical to soften the bond between the screws and dried paint in a very small amount. The question is what would be the best chemical to use for this application? Mineral spirits, turpentine, acetone, denatured alcohol? I was thinking of using a couple drops of Kroil, but I don't know if Kroil would have any effect on the paint. I think the chemical would have to be in a liquid form and not a gel so it penetrates around the screw heads. This problem is compounded by the fact the screws are Lock-Tighted in place with medium strength Lock-Tite.
Any constructive opinions on this would be appreciated and I greatly appreciate any help in this matter. As a last ditch method I could put the slide and sight in my somewhat inexpensive milling machine and try to remove the screw heads, but I am not sure I want to go this route due to the relative small size of the screws. Thanks for reading this.
Rick H.
The screws use a #8 torx bit. This problem is compounded by the fact the electronics for the RMR to function is around these screws and I would image some type of a printed circuit board under the outer case for the sight. My first thought was to try and heat up the screws with a soldering gun by holding the tip against the screw head and waiting for a heat transfer to take place. This transfer didn't take place and I broke a Torx bit attempting this.
Unless someone has a better idea, my next best guess is to use a chemical to soften the bond between the screws and dried paint in a very small amount. The question is what would be the best chemical to use for this application? Mineral spirits, turpentine, acetone, denatured alcohol? I was thinking of using a couple drops of Kroil, but I don't know if Kroil would have any effect on the paint. I think the chemical would have to be in a liquid form and not a gel so it penetrates around the screw heads. This problem is compounded by the fact the screws are Lock-Tighted in place with medium strength Lock-Tite.
Any constructive opinions on this would be appreciated and I greatly appreciate any help in this matter. As a last ditch method I could put the slide and sight in my somewhat inexpensive milling machine and try to remove the screw heads, but I am not sure I want to go this route due to the relative small size of the screws. Thanks for reading this.
Rick H.
