Engraving Left Side Plate

Dirty Brass · March 29, 2008, 11:04:50 AM

I am planning on engraving the left side plates on my rifles, similar to the rifle in Crossfire Trail. I find however that the screws holding both on are VERY hard to loosen and remove. Does anyone know if these are installed with lock-tite or a similar compound? Has anyone removed them and needed heat to do so? I don't want to bugger up the slots in the heads when removing them.

Grizzly Adams · March 29, 2008, 02:53:27 PM

There is only one screw holding on both of the side plates, and that's the large one aft. The front of the plate is dovetailed. Mine (Uberti) came off without any great stress, but you need to make sure you use a properly fitted hollow ground screw driver bit.

It is not lock tighted, and if it is stubburn, put a dab of kroil or some such penetrating oil on both sides/ends of the screw and it should come out. Once removed, I find it helpful to put the screw back in, without threading it, and give it a gentle rap on the head to dislodge the plate on the right side. The left plate can then be pushed loose. Harder to describe that do!

Joe Lansing · March 29, 2008, 08:32:35 PM

I had the sideplate on my Chaparral '76 hand engraved with my initials in period lettering. No problem getting the screw out, but the screw on my Uberti '73 was a real *#@* challenge.
Use some penetrating oil and allow it to sit for a couple of days. Sometimes a light touch with a torch followed by rapid cooling (expansion and contraction) will help. Use the best fitting screwdriver possible,not made from cheap, soft steel. Put a lot of your weight on the screw and turn it with a pair of vise grips locked on to the shaft for maximum leverage. If you end up messing up the screw, you can always replace it.
Getting back to the sideplate, they are usually case hardened and difficult to engrave. The hardening can be annealed, but this will usually damage the appearance of color case hardening. Factory engraving is done prior to hardening. Don't take it to your local jeweler
for the engraving, but rather send it to someone who engraves guns.
Before I sent out my sideplate, I ordered a spare from Chaparral to keep my rifle in service while the work was being done. It's for sale to anyone who needs one. E-mail me if you're interested.

Dirty Brass · March 30, 2008, 04:29:54 PM

Thanks for the replies fellas. I'l try some penetrating oil and see how thqt works. I have a set of good screwdrivers for smith work, so they should be fine. I'll be sending them to a fella that does engraving on Browning 30 Cal side plates. Those are usually only 4130 or 4140 steel, but he felt he would have no problemns with the CCH plate of the Uberti. are Chapparal and Uberti sideplates interchangeable? I'll be doing one at a time, so I can transfer one plate, and have the other gun operational while waiting for the first plate.

Deadeye Don · March 31, 2008, 06:38:39 AM

Penetrating oil and let it sit over night. Dont try to hurry those mongo tightened screws as you will only damage them in the long run.

Dirty Brass · April 02, 2008, 12:02:56 PM

Well, I've tried the penetrating oil and a little heat, to no avail.....They are really tight! Is there a chance these are domed or peened over at the factory on the thread end to prevent them from coming loose? I looked with a large maginfying glass and it almost looks like the are pressed after threading to give a lip on the threaded end just outside the right plate. Could by I'm reaching for an explanation......I've never run into firearm screws this tight before, even on old vintage guns.

Buck Stinson · April 02, 2008, 12:22:54 PM

You keep mentioning "screw(s)" and "they" are really tight. There is only ONE sideplate screw on an 1876 Winchester, original or reproduction. I've never heard of the sideplate screw being that tight. I guess I'm wondering where the "screws" are that you're having trouble with or are you talking about "two" different guns with the same problem?

Adios,
Buck

Dirty Brass · April 02, 2008, 01:25:03 PM

Sorry for the confusion - here's the scoop.....

I keep mentioning screw(s) because I'm sending in sideplates from two guns. I'm having the same problem with both gun's sideplate screws (one each). Niether will budge for me, and both screws look to be domed or pressed over on the threaded ends. I suppose that could be cut marks where the screws were cut to length, but I'm just asking if anyone else had any other ideas/experience about this.

Buck Stinson · April 02, 2008, 01:41:48 PM

Now I get it. All of the screws that go through the action, from one side to the other, are domed on the threaded end. This creates a finished look. They are not or at least should not be peened over. I can't imagine that these screws were set with lock-tite, but only the manufacturer knows for sure. I wouldn't hold my breath as far as the side plates being interchangeable from one manufacturer to the other, either. But then again if you can remove them, you might find out they'll cross over.

Adios,
Buck

Dirty Brass · April 02, 2008, 02:59:09 PM

I took some super high res pics at 600 dpi and 4500x3800 pixels and zoomed in as close as I could. A lot easier to see than with my magnifying glass. It doesn't look like they are peened over in the pics, as I can see the thread line at the plate. So......back to soaking in penetrating for another 24 hours.....

Thanks for the replies and tips. I'll keep you posted if/when I get the plates off. Fun Fun Fun! I love a challenge.......

Dirty Brass · April 04, 2008, 04:16:54 PM

Just an update - I finally got peeved and milled the head off one screw to release the sideplate. The sideplate actually "popped" when the head released from the shaft. I'm guessing the pressure on the head from compressing the plates together was enough to make the screw impossible to budge without buggering up the slot. Remaining part of the shaft turned out by hand from the right plate, once I took it off - it was loose enough to turn with my fingers! So.....on gun #2, I compressed the sideplates together with a clamp (carefully) to releave some pressure off the screw head, and the screw came out very easy.

I wanted harder screws, but no one carries slotted, hardened, 10x32 screws that I could find locally, so I turned down some hardened cap screws, slotted them, and blackened them. There is a small dimple in the middle, but hard to see. I'll replace them with original style hardend ones if I ever run across some. For now, at least, I can send out the plates for engraving. Thanks again for all the help and suggestions.