Removing glued on pic rail.

Yotarunner

Yotarunner

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Ok so I am working on the most troublesome rifle right now and have hit a snag.
I'm working on replacing a Savage barrel and to gain access to the barrel nut I have to remove the picatiny rail that came on the gun. The previous owner had started to strip the screw heads but the right sized bit still had lots of bite. Long story short the screws would not budge even with heat and a Brownells impact driver. So now with the screw heads thoroughly stripped I decided to drill the heads off and remove the rail then work on removing the studs.
I have drilled into the heads and so far neither the heads nor the rail want to come off which is leading me to believe that there is a lot of locktight in there somewhere.
Any ideas?
 
Try heating it a little more, perhaps you didn't get it hot enough the first attempt. Get it hot, then give it a couple sharp raps with a hammer and block of hardwood if you can.
 
Well so far I have got it as hot as I dare without starting to compromise the rail and have made a mess out of my dead blow hammer and still no luck. Any chance the screws used would be cap head screws and I need to drill deeper?
 
They might be # 8 screws instead of # 6. can also put it in the freezer for a day and then only heat the rail.
 
I would sacrifice the Pic rail if need be, drill deeper. Focus on preserving the gun receiver.
Once you get the heads drilled off, and the picatinny rail removed, then the (now headless) protruding screw studs will remain to be removed from the receiver.

A trick I have used successfully on stuck studs or broken bolts...
Hold a small nut, (whose bore is slightly larger than the stud) over the protruding stud with a plier. With a MIG or TIG welder on low current setting, tack inside the nut, such that the nut is now tacked to the protruding end of the stud. Allow to cool slightly, then with a socket on the nut, back out the stud. The rapid heat applied to the stud from the weld expands the stud slightly, and the shrink during subsequent cool down will usually break the stud free and it is an easy spin out with a ratchet.
 
I agree with the above, drill deeper and possibly sacrifice the rail if need be. How are you heating it up, with a small torch, or a heat gun?
 
Buck_Up said:
I would sacrifice the Pic rail if need be, drill deeper. Focus on preserving the gun receiver.
Once you get the heads drilled off, and the picatinny rail removed, then the (now headless) protruding screw studs will remain to be removed from the receiver.

A trick I have used successfully on stuck studs or broken bolts...
Hold a small nut, (whose bore is slightly larger than the stud) over the protruding stud with a plier. With a MIG or TIG welder on low current setting, tack inside the nut, such that the nut is now tacked to the protruding end of the stud. Allow to cool slightly, then with a socket on the nut, back out the stud. The rapid heat applied to the stud from the weld expands the stud slightly, and the shrink during subsequent cool down will usually break the stud free and it is an easy spin out with a ratchet.
Click to expand...

I've had to do this to the stock bolt on a savage, nasty little bit of work, the hex head was stripped out and the bolt was hard enough that the mastercraft screw out wouldn't bite. So I tack welded a nut on and turned it out.
 
If deeper don't work go bigger. Useing a drill press I hope, set the stop so you don't touch the rifle. 6x42 is most commonly used but if it's been stripped could have been replaced with 8x40.
 
woodchopper said:
I've had to do this to the stock bolt on a savage, nasty little bit of work, the hex head was stripped out and the bolt was hard enough that the mastercraft screw out wouldn't bite. So I tack welded a nut on and turned it out.
Click to expand...

Ive done the same thing in certain situations, it can work quite well and is worth a try if you are running out of options.
 
woodchopper said:
I've had to do this to the stock bolt on a savage, nasty little bit of work, the hex head was stripped out and the bolt was hard enough that the mastercraft screw out wouldn't bite. So I tack welded a nut on and turned it out.
Click to expand...

Haha funny you should mention that. This same rifle (a Savage) has a permanent driver bit in it right now for that same reason.

For those wondering I'm using a drill press and a handheld butane torch. If more heat is needed I have access to an aceteline torch as well.
 
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