Field fix- genius or not?

[vradin]

Is this a work of Wile E Coyote type genius or is it gonna blow up in my face eventually? The clean-out screw in the drum of my CVA plainshunter had the slot stripped by an over-zealous range assistant this summer. I managed to get it out with some little difficulty and was left with a gaping hole with metric M5x80 threads, 1/4" long, and a tapered head.

Guess what? No one had the replacement screw locally. I could have ordered one, but with shipping and wait time not worth it. I found a correct thread size bolt with round phillips head, cut it to length with a hacksaw, cleaned up the burrs and installed it.

Seems to work fine, took quite a few shots with the gun- doesn't appear to be any gunk buildup or stickiness, but now that I'm back home with internet access, it might be good to ask the experts... Is this fix gonna blow up in my face? Anything special I should keep an eye out for?

thanks,
vic

 

[Stophel]

I can't imagine that there ever could be any kind of problem! It's just a screw, and there'e plenty of pressure relief through the nipple and out the muzzle.

 

[walruskid1]

can't see a problem in the works, as long as you have thread depth equal to diameter if possible. dave

 

[Darkhorse]

Now that you've got a working replacement heres a tip to keep from stripping out the clean out screw in the future: Leave it alone!
You don't have to take out this screw to clean the rifle. All the flushing action you need you get through the nipple. If you need more remove the nipple.
I have an old Renegade thats 30 plus years old and its never had the clean out screw out. And the bore is still in perfect condition. And its had thousands of rounds shot through it.

 

[Zonie]

If the screw threads of the new screw match the screw threads in the drum there should be no problem.

The only problem I can see is if you run into a PC person. One look at a Phillips head screw will probably be the "big one".

If this concerns you, you might look around for a slotted round head or Fillister head screw.

At least you didn't say it was a Stainless Steel Phillips head screw. :crackup: :crackup:

 

[2172]

I made the same repair the same way about 20 years ago..no problems yet...and, I no longer take the screw out..Hank

 

[vradin]

The only problem I can see is if you run into a PC person. One look at a Phillips head screw will probably be the "big one".

If this concerns you, you might look around for a slotted round head or Fillister head screw.

At least you didn't say it was a Stainless Steel Phillips head screw. :crackup: :crackup:

I could probably file down the screw head to get rid of the phillips slot and grind a couple of flats that will fit a small wrench. Since I'm not doing anything that requires it to be PC, I'll leave it as is for now.

I did find some stainless hex bolts first, and almost tried that, but found another place that had the phillips, which just looked better. I got about 4 or 5 of each w/washers and a few nuts to use as a spacer and thread chasing device after hacking off the 3/4" I didn't need.

The only reason I was removing the drum screw in the first place was to clean the flash channel that was getting gunked up with pyrodex and the #11 caps weren't hot enough to blow it clear.

I found a couple of musket nipples and two tins of musket caps on clearance so installed that and started using the bigger cap and Goex 2F. What a difference. Not a single misfire, no more clogged flash channel, and the Goex is easier to clean than pyrodex.

Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.

vic

 

[musketman]

Can the screw be blued to match the gun?