[mescalito]

I've tried:

Punch with rubber mallet (tools)
Wife's hair dryer(got it too hot to touch) (heat)
Punch with hammer (tools)
Soldering iron (heat)
And finally acetone (solvent)

I can not remove the dovetail from the receiver. Heck, it hasn't moved at all. If I were to guess what the problem is I would say either the dovetail or the dovetail receiver slot is out of spec. I can actually see light underneath the dovetail, as if the bottom of the dovetail is making no contact with the receiver.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Should I buy a propane torch and give that a try?

SA receiver #11714

 

[NoExpert]

Stop heating it, you're just expanding it making it more stuck.

Put it in the freezer for a while (couple hours) and let the parts shrink, then use a punch and hammer.

Also, it goes out towards the bolt release.

 

[dprice3844444]

take the pin out?

 

[adrbe]

If freezing doesn't work, you can also try PB Blaster or some kind of penetrating oil.

 

[mescalito]

Will give freezer a try. Thank you. I was told loctite was used, loctite says to use heat.

Removing pin was an obvious, but good suggestion. No pin was used. First thing I checked.

Again, thank you all very much. I will update with results after work. Did a fair amount of searching and didn't come across freezing.

 

[SOCOM42]

i've tried:

I would say either the dovetail or the dovetail receiver slot is out of spec. I can actually see light underneath the dovetail, as if the bottom of the dovetail is making no contact with the receiver.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Should i buy a propane torch and give that a try?

Sa receiver #11714

the light you see is from the end mill used to first open the slot, normally it is about .003" to .005" deeper than the finish dovetail cut. Slot keeps the d/t cutter from binding and piling up chips underneath.

Sai d/t slots run small, to lazy or cheap to change cutters or program in an offset.

Insert might have to be milled out of the slot.

 

[mescalito]

SOCOM - Thank you for your insight. As much as I want my situation resolved, I also want it to help others in case the come across anything like it in the future. Good info.

 

[SOCOM42]

If you have access to a precision milling machine, you can use it to hold the whole lenth of the reciever and drive it out with a steel drift punch.

Again if it is galled up you may have to mill it out. No easy solution without the right equipment.

I have had to mill out sai installed clip guides because of the apes that install them.

 

[mescalito]

Ok, on to the next:

Home Depot tomorrow and PB Buster.

The freezer did its job. I had ice crystals covering the barrel, but multiple strong hammer hits did not even make it budge.

And I thought I was strong...

 

[SOCOM42]

if that fails, you can take a hacksaw and make a cut lenthwise down through the insert . that will give enough relief to get it out. will need to go about 3/4s of the way only.

 

[mescalito]

Maybe this rifle is trying to tell me it wants to be scoped. Time and effort will tell...

 

[adrbe]

Spray the PB Blaster and let it soak overnight and try in the morning. If it's still stuck, let it soak overnight again.

Once, a stuck nut I was working on took three days of soaking before it broke free.

 

[mescalito]

Update...

Haven't had the time to stop by Home Depot to get the PB Blaster, and neighborhood hardware stores don't carry.
I will try it soon, until then I, out of laziness, put the mount back on. Boy, the weight does make a difference when in a USGI stock.
I will update again when I try the PB Blaster. Thank you all for your input, I learned a lot.

 

[darkjedi351]

If freezing doesn't work, you can also try PB Blaster or some kind of penetrating oil.

+1 for pb blaster, stuff works for everything. we even use it to keep the bugs away in the summer. a dab on your ear lobes and your good.

breaks free the most stuborn corroded nuts and bolts

spray it and let it soak, get a bfh, a nice brass drift, 1/4 or 3/8's should do

a couple good solid whacks away from the charging handle or towards the bolt release should get it moving.

do you have a soft jaw vice you can stick it in?

 

[tonyben]

Please be careful. The one single piece on the M14 receiver that is prone to breakage is the dovetail for the clip guide.

Tony.

 

[bigbang]

Go to an electronics shop ( is there still Radio Shack in the US?) and buy freezing spray. It works, I do all my dovetail drifting with it.
Wolf

 

[Gus Fisher]

Sorry I am coming in late on this thread.

TonyBen is correct you need to be very careful not to break the receiver.

I am not really going to bring up much new things, but perhaps it is time to review what others have said and add a little more.

I probably would not use a propane torch, either. The heat would break the "bond" of the loc tite, but you would need to be VERY, VERY careful to only heat the top of the clip guide and NOT put the flame on the receiver. I have used a propane torch before on a good number of occasions and I know what I'm doing, but I STILL am very nervous about screwing up a receiver and would not use it in this case.

I would use the PB Blaster as it WILL break the bond of the loc tite without heating the parts. I ran into a FS glued on with some Industrial strength glue at Camp Perry this past year and the PB Blaster broke the bond rather easily AFTER I had tried with no success to use a propane torch. (I was not going to use much heat close to the barrel.)

It would be best to use the PB blaster one night and let it sit all night. Use it again in the morning and let it sit all day. THEN begin to take the clip guide off that night.

NoExpert brought up a VERY VALUABLE POINT I hope you did not miss. You drive the clip guide out to the LEFT side of the receiver (towards the Bolt Lock) by hitting the RIGHT side of the clip guide. Right and left side of the receiver means with the barrel pointing away from you and the receiver upright. It is possible if you drive the clip guide the wrong way, you could break a piece of the receiver off and then you would be screwed. On most M14 receivers, the clip guide TIGHTENS UP as the guide is tapped toward the right and that is how you could break the receiver if you drive it too far to the right.

OK, so what if that doesn't work?

Go get at least two BRAND NEW hack saw blades at least 24 TPI and 32 TPI would probably be better. Use the old blade in your hack saw to start the cut as it will ruin most of the teeth cutting through the hardened skin. You cut the guide going sideways across the rifle in the middle of the top of the clip guide going down. That way, if the cut is not perfectly centered or you stray off center a bit, it won't matter. You STOP CUTTING just before you get to the bottom of the clip guide - maybe 1/16" before the bottom. There is NO NEED to cut all the way through the clip guide and you don't want to cut into the receiver. The saw cut will give JUST ENOUGH room to squeeze the clip guide enough that it will come out easily. You can squeeze the clip guide from the top of the clip guide using your vice or a pair of vice jaws. Then turn the receiver right side up and tap the clip guide on the RIGHT side of the clip guide with your hammer and it should come out easily.

I had to do this exact same thing on an M1903A3 rear sight this year at Camp Perry. The manufacturer made the dovetail too large for the rear sight dovetail, so they put 7 or 9 stakes on the receiver and darn near WELDED it into place. Cutting it the hacksaw is a bit time consuming, but it came right off afterwards with no harm to the receiver.