Stripped grip screws

[kenboyles72]

I agree, and do this with everything I refurbish.

Does anyone know Why manufacturers use these odd fasteners ?

What benefit do they provide over Philips ?

It's not the type of screw, but what the screw was made of or what the torx/allen bit was made of. I have allen and torx screws on some of my stuff and they have never stripped out, but some have stripped just looking at em. That's why I replace most of these screws with good, machine quality screws.

 

[leVieux]

The reason for a stripped hex or Torx screw heads may not be caused by over tightening.
You may want to check how accurate your driver bit is.
A loose fitting, out of spec driver will lead to stripping heads also.

Case in point, I picked up a cheap driver set off chinaBay, just to carry in my range bag.
(funny, it's identical to the wheeler set offered by Larry Putts-field of Midway)
Most of it is either decent stuff, or a size/style that is never used on a firearm, but some of it absolutely sucks, especially the smaller sizes.
Just replaced a 1/16" Allen tip, because it was .003" undersize, and would cam & slip on a snug screw, splitting the set screw.
It measured the same as a 1.5mm tip.
As I come across the undersize ones, I order a replacement Wiha from McMaster-Carr.
The Wiha was tight enough to remove the split set screw, thank God.

<>

Gee, Thanks. . . .

I thought I was doing something wrong.

<>

 

[samr46]

Not trying yo bust your balls, but if you buggered up grip screw removal perhaps you need a gunsmith.

Thanks, took your advice. Not a gunsmith, or even decent repairman…lol.

 

[Otto_Mation]

Lots of good suggestions above. You can also try to find a very tight fitting hex bit and drive it into the rounded out torx hole with a small hammer and then back your screw out. But these are probably your best bet.