1911 grip screw bushing removal

[Yleefox]

Okay, I admit, I'm stumped. I'm trying to replace the grips on a 1911 and when I attempted to remove the grip screws, the bushings unscrewed themselves from the frame, leaving the screws still installed in the grips.

It appears, that someone used a thread sealant on the screw threads. I do not want to damage the orginial grips, so I'm being extremely careful. So far I have tried heating the bushings with a soldering iron, so that I could direct the heat to the bushing, with the hopes of releasing the hold of the sealant. No luck. I then tried using a piece of brass shim stock to protect the threads on the bushing and gripping it with a small pair of vice grips, but this failed as well.

If I have too, I will buy a new set of bushings and screws, drill them out, and replace them, but I would like to have it back together tomorrow, if possible.

Any ideas?

Y

[Bullseye]

When this happens, I take a little bit of high strength Locktite and apply it to the degreased frame's bushing hole threads. I carefully rescrew the grip bushing back into the frame, taking care not to cross-thread these delicate screw threads. Leave it sit overnight and try removing the grip screws again. Usually this causes the screw to release out of the bushing and leave the bushing firmly seated in the frame.

If this doesn't work I cut a slot in the bottom side of the bushing, with a high speed cutting wheel, and use two screwdrivers to apply counter torquing pressure and unscrew the bushing from the grip. After this process I replace the damaged bushing, and the screw if the head slot is visibly damaged.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

[Yleefox]

Thanks for the tips Bullseye. I'm going to give the Loctite the bushings trick a try first and see how that goes. If it doesn't work, I'll move to the second tip and give that a try. I will ultimately get them apart eventually even if it means drilling them out or milling the heads off of the screws.

I'll post my results once done.

Thanks again
Y

[Yleefox]

Well, I got the screws out of the bushings finally. I finally flattened the sides of the bushings and clamped them in a machinist vice. Then with considerable force, removed the screws. I have no idea what kind of sealant was used on those screws, but I hope I don't encounter any more of it.

Thanks again for the advice Bullseye

Y

[Bullseye]

Glad to hear that you got them off. That was another solution to the problem. Since you were going to have to replace them anyway, flattening and putting them in a vise likely worked as good as any other method.

R,
Bullseye