Bear Take Down, screw stripped

[shag08]

Hey guys. Was shooting my Bear green stripe Take Down today and one of the screws that holds the hinge on flew off of it. Thankfully I was shooting from the patio and heard it fall on the concrete and was able to find it.

It hadn't been shooting right...it was loud and arrows seemed out of tune. Noticed string had stretched and brace height and nock point were out a little. I unstrung it and brought everything back in specs. Strung it back up and the screw let loose on the first shot.

I quickly unstrung it and removed the upper limb. Pulled the latch back into place for the holes to line up. Dabbed some blue Loc-Tite on the screw and tried to put it back in. Either the screw or the threads in the latch, or both, are stripped out and it won't tighten down. Sucks! Was quickly becoming my favorite bow.

Anyone ran into a similar problem? If so, how did you fix it?

I had thought about tapping the hole and running a new screw in. Went to the hardware store and couldn't find a screw that was even close to being the right size.

[Biathlonman]

Call Bear, surely they'd sell you a screw??

[shag08]

It never even crossed my mind to get in touch with Bear. As old as the bow is, I figured I was on my own. I'll give that a try. Thanks!!!

[oldbohntr]

Can't offer much advice on the screws on wood T/d risers, but maybe this will help.  I had sold off my all my bear risers but one magnesium.  it was still around because it had stripped threads in the metal and that short tapered screw had nothing to bite into. It was a #4 oval head screw, as near as I could figure. Was amazed at how little thread asengagement Bear considered necessary! I bought a #35 wire size bit, and a 4-40 tap then drilled out the same holes clear through the riser.  Then tapped the holes and used some 4-40x 1/2 black oval head screws to reassemble the latch on that end.  Because the only screws I could find his slightly larger diameter heads, I chucked them in my drill press and filed the heads to fit perfectly. Then used a Dremel tool. To grind off the approx. 1/16" of screw tip that extended beyond the drilled holes.  A quick spray of flat black paint and it was almost impossible to tell it from the other end. I'm darned sure that my nearly 1/2" of thread engagement can is loads better than about 3 threads of engagement that it was originally built with!

[Roadkill]

Helicoil?

[shag08]

I got it fixed. I tapped the hole one size bigger. Then dug around in the bow box and found a screw that threaded but was too long. I put some loc-tite on it and tightened it down. Then I cut off the excess from the inside with a dremel and cut off wheel. It ain't a perfect match...the screw was a Phillips head. But it's good enough to suit me and it's back launching arrows again.