doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com 1883 Colt Trigger plate screw

Congratulations. A piece of cake, right?

Carl,
Can you find or make a screw with the correct thread? If not, the best idea is to repair the old one. The countersink is damaged and it might be easier to clean it up and match the larger diameter of the countersink with repairing the head of the screw. It is easier to work on the outside of anything than the inside. You would be wise to follow Kutter's advice when repairing and "clocking" the screw head. The finished screw head will likely want matching engraving.
I have absolutely no experience with laser welding, but it may offer some advantages to repairing the screw head. I don't mean to criticize anyone else's advice, but my own former experience indicates it would be very likely that I would create new damage by "run outs" trying to reach the end of a screw slot with a motor tool. Other people may have better control.
Mike

Thanks for continued advise. Today is find a good welder day. Also, I will continue to check all sources for a used replacement. One other option I have is a legendary local store..King Bolt, they carry an immense supply of everything Nuts and Bolts. The last time I visited, the first thing out of my helpful person's mouth was..this is from a gun right? We shall see what they can do.
Carl

I'm posting this picture for Carl. Here is the screw removed

Hooray!

I would make a new screw as Kutter described above at this point. Good luck!

Well, I'm going to use the screw I extracted and do a thorough rehab on it. I wish I could show the person who beat on this gun, that it did come out and all is well. Anyway, it's gonna be pretty again. Thank you all, and Kutter, you should teach. That discussion on how and what to do in the extraction was priceless..thank you.
Carl

My last comment on this, sometimes what looks to be the easy solution is not. I do wish you the best on it.

Steve

I submitted this post yesterday, but it did not appear for some reason:

Good to hear you got it out. The fact that you were able to remove it relatively quickly shows it wasn't terribly stuck to begin with. Had the fool that damaged it so badly simply used the same methods you did, he could have removed it with zero damage. Some people should never be allowed to touch a screwdriver.

Good luck finding an original replacement screw. 1883 Colt double production numbers were pretty low, only a few thousand, as I recall. I let a real nice one get away from me at a local farm auction about 20 years ago, and have been kicking myself ever since.

Opening up the countersink in the plate to remove the damage there would be best done with a milling machine. But then you'd need an abnormally large screw head for the replacement screw. So I'd leave it as is or repair the damage. Since you are near a large city, it might be easy to find a good TIG or laser welder who could repair the damaged countersink, and the screw head too. But it's probably easier to just have a new screw made if you can't find one.

There is a current Thread in the Double Rifle forum showing laser weld repair done on a Wilkes 10 bore double rifle. The cost for the welding, including shipping to Alaska, seemed very reasonable:

https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=670630&page=1

It would not be recommendable. And more than that, it would not be sensible.
And this not "out of principle", but for various concurrent good reasons.

Incidentally, any professional restorer (e.g. museum staff) would tell you the same.

Carcano