6x48 Filler Screws for Sights & Scopes: How to Shorten Them
I'll bet there are some other ways to do this, but I figured I'd post this here in case it helps someone else when they mount a sight or scope.
The challenge I had was:
How to shorten those small 6x48 Filler Screws by 0.025” to 0.030” so they’d fit flush.
Luckily, I had a few extra and only 2 to do, but gee -- how do you hold 'em???
A pair of tweezers didn’t work... I could have used a small metal jewelers vice, but that probably would have damaged the threads. A set of rubber jaws in my bench vice didn't work either, as they just popped out the moment the file hit it. So then I tried a pair of nylon fishing pliers clamped really tight... That ended up launching 2 screws to never-to-be-found-again-land after they jumped out of the jaws. Then on top of all this, it turns out that none of my files (and I have quite a few very good ones from my locksmithing days) would even touch the finish of the screw -- never mind take some metal off.
What I really needed was a thin 1/16" metal plate that was already threaded to 6x48... But of course, I didn't have that...
Time to get creative! So I used a hole punch to put different sized holes in some tough leather scrap, and then I screwed it into one of the holes that was a tight fit:
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/Savg..._Screws_1_.jpg
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/Savg..._Screws_2_.jpg
Then I slowly and carefully ground it down with a 3/4" stone in my Dremel, at moderate speeds:
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/Savg..._Screws_3_.jpg
Great, it worked!
This last picture shows them fitting flush -- and "clocked" or "timed" correctly -- on the muzzle of the new-to-me Savage 99A which I'd already scoped, and I didn't want to see the front sight in my view:
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/Savg..._Screws_4_.jpg
Now I just need to add a touch of cold blue to blend them in a little better.
Using that holed leather strap to hold them really worked out well.
Tight groups.
Old No7
