Alright, I'm in need of some help here.

Without getting into a "screw v. rivet" debate here, I need to know how to go about fixing a screw that keeps stripping out of my Romy G.

I agree that rivets are the "best" but that's not what I have. I have a screw build that for all but one screw is just fine. However, one of the screws that goes into the front trunnion strips out. What I would like to know is:

1. What does it take to replace the screws in the trunnion with rivets, can I do it myself or can anyone with a 12-ton press do it for me?

2. If I try to tap the hole in the trunnion to a larger size screw (right now its a 10-24), will I make the hole too big to put a rivet in later if the screw thing doesn't work out?

3. Would something like J-B Weld on the current screw do the job?

I'm not a "purist" who needs this thing to be perfect, but I don't want to worry about parts falling out of my rifle. It needs to be dependable and operate properly. Also, I don't have tons of $$ to throw around.

If I need to take it to a 'smith, does anyone know a good one in the twin cities area?

Give JB Weld a chance.  Just make sure you clean the hole (and screw) REALLY well before applying the JB and inserting the screw.  If this won't hold,  you will have to take more drastic measures...

Which hole in the trunion is stripping?

As long as the JB doesn't ruin my chances of fixing later...

It the screw here:



Don't recall which side, but I've had some trouble with both and want to fix both.

Well, that is the easy screw to rivet, because you can get to it through the mag well.  Might be easier to just rivet it instead of JB...

You could drill it & retap it to #12-24.

Rivet Jaws for 24" Bolt Cutters

You ask if there is a good smith who will help you with mitigating a fundamentally defective process.  The answer is no.  No good smith would touch it.  Only an incompetent hack would.  And no, it really can't be "fixed" with rivets because all your holes are now oversize.  Perhaps you can have custom over-size rivets turned.  I doubt you have your screwed  gun reworked for less than the replacement cost.

Unfortunately, the nature of your inquiry necessitates that discussion.



To fix it correctly, you'd need to scrap that receiver and rebuilt it on something with proper sized holes.  You'd also need to return the trunnion holes to the correct size if they'd been tapped.  In short, this is why screw builds should be avoided.