Community for Kel-Tec Shooters banner

Final emergency removal of a stuck magazine tube cap.

5K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  MedicineRattle 
#1 · (Edited)
On my recommendation a friend bought a KSG and really likes it.
He decided to replace the magazine followers, even though the plastic followers are actually near-perfect for the job.

He used the bolt and nuts technique to remove one cap without too much trouble but the other cap would simply not break loose, even with heat and a soak with Kroil.
He didn't want to spend the money for a special cap wrench tool and asked if I could remove it.
I tried with heat and the bolt trick and the cap would not budge. No matter how tight I tightened the nuts, everything would just unscrew from the cap.

He was desperate and asked if there was anything I could do.
So I used a "final emergency" method.

I used Acetone and brushes to thoroughly degrease the threads inside the magazine cap, and the 1/2 inch threaded bolt and one of the two nuts.
I mixed up a batch of 5 minute epoxy and applied some in the cap threads and on the bolt and one nut threads.
I screwed the bolt into the cap and tightened both nuts down tight.
I gave it 4 or 5 hours to cure, testing the left over epoxy to judge how hard it was.

Then I grabbed the bolt with a wrench and applied some force.
The cap unscrewed and came out.
Several of the threads on the cap appeared to be slightly deformed which may have locked it in place.
Contrary to some thought, the caps DID have factory Loctite on them.
This appears as a small amount of a brown material that you might not notice unless you look close.

Once I had the cap out, I took it outside to vent fumes and heated the bolt and cap up with a torch while holding the bolt with vise-grips.
This causes the epoxy to break down.
Once it was hot and the epoxy was fuming I grabbed the upper lip of the magazine cap with some smooth jaw vise-grips and unscrewed the bolt.

After cool I soaked the cap in a closed metal container of Acetone to finish degrading and removing the epoxy.
After a soak a little brushing and gently scraping with a small screwdriver and it was clean.

When heating, DON'T over heat, certainly not to the point the metal starts to change color.
All that's needed is about 300 degrees to cause the epoxy to break down and soften enough the bolt can be unscrewed from the cap.
That's not that hot.

This was an emergency "save" that might be useful if you get a KSG mag cap that just won't come off with the bolt trick and you don't want to spend the money for one of the better type cap tools.

Many people immediately want to change out the magazine followers with aluminum or stainless steel, but the white plastic followers are perfect for the job.
They're plenty strong, self-lubricating, and can't rust or corrode and possibly stick in the tube.

I disassembled my KSG mag tubes so I could clean out the factory lube.
I cleaned the tubes by running lacquer thinner soaked patches through the tubes and soaked the springs in a small container of lacquer thinner.

Once cleaned of all old lube I used WD-40 Dry Lubricant with Teflon spray to liberally coat the inside of the tubes and the springs.
Now I can re-lubricate the tubes and springs by sticking the spray needle into the slots on the tubes and give it another shot, as needed.

One thing I have noticed is that it may be a good idea to use a little Loctite Blue on the mag cap threads when reassembling.
This may not be needed to prevent the caps from unscrewing, but may prevent the caps from screwing on tighter when the barrel assembly is screwed back on the receiver and magazine tube assembly.
If the caps are free to move easily, over tightening the end cap screws may cause the mag caps to tighten further and could make removal difficult.
A small amount of Loctite and not over tightening the outer caps may prevent any problems.

If you do get a mag cap that won't come loose for any reason, you might try this bolt and epoxy technique as a last resort.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
He used the bolt and nuts technique to remove one cap without too much trouble but the other cap would simply not break loose,
If he got one out, the other probably should have been jammed in place, as they're supposed to be incremented in their disassembly. The manual says 1/2 turn each, back and forth, but I find you can get a bit more than that.., but ya gotta alternate.
 
#6 ·
This was to remove a stuck magazine cap, not a barrel assembly screw.

As for pictures...no, but just go to the FAQ's and look at the pictures of removing the magazine caps with a 1/2 inch thread bolt and two nuts.
Then imagine the threads coated with 5 minute epoxy.
 
#9 ·
This is why I think that Kel-Tec uses Loctite on the tube plug threads.
With no thread locker if you over tighten the outer end caps the tube plugs are free to tighten even more.
That might be why the tube plug wouldn't come loose.

A thread locker will prevent the tube plug from turning easily if the outer caps are tightened too much and prevent this problem.
When he brought the gun to me the outer caps were very tight.

So, I think a good standard is to use a thread locker on the tube plugs and don't tighten the outer caps too much.
The outer caps don't need to be very tight anyway.
They're not going to unscrew under use if they're just snugged down.
 
#10 ·
This is why I think that Kel-Tec uses Loctite on the tube plug threads.
With no thread locker if you over tighten the outer end caps the tube plugs are free to tighten even more.
That might be why the tube plug wouldn't come loose.


Entirely possible that's why. When reassembling, alternating half a turn each will walk the assembly down until the back end sits flush. That's as far as anyone needs to go, maybe people are just cranking away and forgot to look at the entire assembly that they're bringing together. Personally, I made a small mark at 6 o'clock on each barrel assembly screw. Reassembled, they both lined up properly, no need to keep going, they're not fine thread and one extra revolution wouldn't have accomplished anything.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top