Disassembling Grip Screws On Bayonet

[joe6167]

As I went to take apart my freshly acquired bayonet for cleaning, I found that the two nuts holding the Bakelite grips to the blade were stuck on the screws, and after a great deal of desperate improvisation with household objects, I finally went and make this "tool" out of a 1/4" bolt, via grinding on a pedestal grinder and filing. It worked quite well, though it is rather delicate and I did have to remake it a few times, but this final iteration has lasted through getting the nuts off and later tightening them back up.

In the process of cleaning and inspecting the bayonet I found that the threads on those two screws were in pretty rough shape, hence why the nuts were so difficult to get off.

Are replacements for those screws available anywhere, or are they a standard type of screw?

 

[ardenne]

I have found original spare parts in EBay

 

[pwcosol]

Here are a few other options. I have had excellent success with use of small, palm-sized ratcheting screwdrivers. All take the 1/4 inch "APEX" driver bits. The fine ratchet allows one to adequately hold the bayonet in one hand while only slightly turning the palm to engage the ratchet and thus removing the screw, with the other. Things can get a bit problematic when the opposite screw or spanner nut wants to turn as well. Having a second driver to prevent the screw from turning with a flat blade tip which fits the screw as perfectly as possible (same applies for the spanner nut) is very important to avoid the bits slipping, potentially gouging the screw heads or grips. The spanner nut bit can be made by using something like a Dremel tool to grind the flat-blade down to the best fit, then cutting away the center leaving only the two tips. Caution is needed when trying to remove a difficult nut because excessive pressure can break the sensitive tips and/or cause the driver to slip. Lastly, I found several pre-formed spanner nut bits in the pictured Security driver bit set: