doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com LC Smith. Saved thread.

I am feeling good today because I had a win with the internal tread in the bottom of the top lever of my LC Smith.
This gun has been worked on by unmentionables & I am in the process of trying to reverse up to a place that I can now repair it properly.
The top lever screw in it was a little coarse threaded self tapper just smaller than the thread size of the 4-40 screw that is original.

I naturally thought the worse for the situation but after inspecting under magnification & a bit of picking at the thread my hope grew.
The self tapper was just too small to pick up the 4-40 threads so the unmentionable put some hardening compound in the hole & ran the self tapper in. I was able to heat & pick this stuff out & after a blow out with WD40 & chasing the tread with a 4-40 tap it accepted a 4-40 screw perfectly.

Now my conundrum is to find the correct, or a workable screw to complete the repair. The ones I can find do not have a large enough head diameter to work correctly & I may yet have to make one.
But that is all better than having that female thread in the top lever all screwed up.
O.M

In an ironic way, the "fixer" did a great job.
Not having the correct part, they did a repair that did minimal damage.
I wish they were all that way......

I will tell you from experience that the screw that numrich sells is not competely correct. They are just a modern machine screw that is similar to the smith top lever screw. The head is no where near the right diameter and ghe threads are close enough to work, but not exact.

Yes oldstarfire, ironic indeed. If it was thoughtfully done that way as to not ruin things we will never know.

B. Dudley, thank you for that confirmation. I am finding that to be the case with every available screw.
That outside head diam is needed as it is a part of bearing & alignment.
O.M

I may have a few good ones here if you need one.

Thank you for that kind offer Mr Dudley. P.M. sent.
O.M

I'm not certain but I seem to remember that LC Smith typewriters used screws that could often be used in their firearms.

Steve

An old manual Smith typewriter is probably rarer that an Elsie these days...Geo

True, Geo. At least here in Australia.
Not sayin I bin everywhere man, but my Elsie is the only one I have ever seen or heard of.
Talking to an American trained gunsmith in this town yesterday & he has never seen or heard of LC Smith guns before seeing mine yesterday.
O.M