New Ibex SMF. Stripped tapped hole in the stock assembly?

[IndianapolisJones]

My recent Ibex SMF appears to have a stripped hole where one of the two allen screws holds the stock against the SMF rail. When I was sighting it today, I noticed it felt like the stock was loose and rattling a little in my left hand.

Sure enough the allen screw was spinning in the hole, with only a slight purchase in the threads. But it was enough for me to back the screw out, and to my surprise I found that the synthetic rail threads in the hole had come out with the screw! Here's the wound spool of rail material that came off the screw:



I'm not sure how to approach this from a warranty perspective. Would the whole rail have to be replaced? Or a re-tap of the hole for a slightly larger allen screw?

Hunting season literally starts tomorrow and I don't want to sit it out for a warranty repair. I put the screw back in and tightened it until it tried to grip a little - probably enough to use it through the season. The rear screw in the trigger area is fine and still holding tight.

Is this the first time anyone has reported this happening on an SMF rail?

[Waif]

Bummer.
No such occurrence with my Axiom S.M.F..
I would add a toothpick piece just short of the hole depth to the hole before inserting the screw.
If not reasonably tight then add another piece of tooth pick or use a wooden match.
Due to potential warranty issue mentioned, I would not use any binding agent.
Would still want a practice shot after to confirm the bow is still on.
Excalibur will give you a what to do after you contact them.

Good huntin to ya!

[IndianapolisJones]

Waif, that was excellent advice! Thanks for the response.

It took three toothpick parts to get it to cinch down reasonably tight. I think I will try to make it through hunting season with this temporary solution, and hope that it holds through January.

I submitted a question ticket to Excalibur to see if they will let me process an RMA to fix it after hunting season is over in a few months.

[nchunterkw]

That happened on my Micro (of course that is an Al rail but...) Danny told me to just tap it out larger and with a coarse thread. Haven't had trouble since. Mine was 8-32 and I tapped it for 10-28.

[cadmaster]

You might just get longer bolts so the you can use nuts and washers. I had a problem with a car years ago where the doors sagged a lot (door threads partially stripped) I just took the door bolts out and replaced them with longer bolts complete with nuts and washers. You just have to make sure the bolts are at least the same grade as the ones you replace. Looking at my crossbow fasteners I don't see markings so I would say they are more than likely grade 5. that only works if you can access the end of the bolt to put the nut on like the small bolts on the riser that hold the limbs on. in your case I agree with retapping the holes.

[wabi]

I wouldn't make any modifications to it (like drilling & threading) before I contacted Excalibur.

[strum]

I wouldn't make any modifications to it (like drilling & threading) before I contacted Excalibur.

X2

[No One]

you could use helicoils

[Hester0305]

I had that happen and drilled the hole out of the rail and put in an aluminum sleeve and was able to use the same screw that came with the Excal. My son in law is an electrician and he luckily had everything I needed.

[Deerstalker]

I had a similar problem with my Equinox & drilled/tapped for a larger screw. The Equinox rail is different material but same problem although it was my fault.

[archerytho]

I had the same problem with my Axiom, right out of the box. I just learnt to put up with it.