After initially receiving my 355 I had to take it apart and see what makes it 'tick' and check all the screws. I am that kind of guy just as I suspect several of you are also. Anyway, I did not have blue thread lock-tite but did have some on hand that I have used in the past on numerous scope and sight screws (slotted and Alan headed) with never any difficulty in removing them. So, logic would be that it would work the same on the 355, eh?
This afternoon I wanted to remove the scope rail and discovered that the four dome-headed screws with their puny .093 Alan socket were tighter than the hubs of hell. Not being one to surrender to a project, a .093 key was clamped in the vise in such a manner that I could put my whole shoulder behind it as I torqued the assembly in a counter-clockwise rocking motion. The Craftsman (good quality) key was visibly twisting as it was worked back and forth and suddenly it came loose with a "pop". Great! Two more samo-samo... Number four was an obstinate SOB. With three out of four you cannot stop there, so I leaned on it till the hex-hole became round, as the Alan key stripped it out. What now?

I have (carefully) drilled out steel screws from a steel block, but this bugger was an aluminum block. No room for error or the bit will track into the housing and really screw it up. NOT looking forward to this challenge but no choice so lets get at it. I clamped the assembly in the drill press vise and tediously lined it up as best as I could to put the center drill right down the center of the screw head. The head had just popped off exposing the drilled hole in the scope rail when the phone rang....
Low and behold it was Danny Miller himself, what are the chances?


Back to the story. [This is meant to be painful to keep you from having to do the same thing] It is not bad enough that you are trying to get a locked-in steel stub out of a block of aluminum, the bloody rail is now between where you are and the actual point where the screw goes into the block. So; a drill large enough to erase the screw outer diameter has to skim thru the scope rail for about a tenth of an inch so you can get the rail out of the way to see what you are doing! Now; Carefully, very carefully the drill center is checked for being in the center of the screw. A couple Hail Mary's and a smaller bit is run through the screw and the hole is progressively increased in size until you can detect threads appearing. A little judicious work with a carbide cutter in a Dremel tool 'cause I was a hair off-center and the steel threads can be carefully picked out of the hole. Now, the hole can finally have a tap clean the hole VERY carefully.
Viola! All fixed like it belongs

God only knows what would have happened if more than one screw would have been seized. The scope rail could not have been removed for at least one of them and surely one would have gone South 'cause you would not have had the ability to re-check your center after getting past the tenth inch scope rail.
I don't know about you, but bet in the future I will use clear nail polish or a lock-tite I KNOW I can break loose with that little pi$$-ant sized Alan key
