Posted by David Williamson on March 19, 2015, 6:02 pm, in reply to "receiver screws"
John, the screws on L.C. Smith's from the factory were orientated or "timed" to the gun, meaning the screw slots ran parallel to the length of the gun. So in order to make screws that fit properly the heads are made oversized, screwed in properly meaning the long connecting screw is flush with the right lock plate. Then the screw head is marked with a fine line on both sides as to the orientation, taken out put in a lathe and machined to the proper depth of the hole, taken out and then the slot is filed or sawn in.
Brownells sells a jig that centers the slot in the screw. I use a hobby type hacksaw with a .023 blade to do mine when I get a gun with buggered screws. If the gun is higher than a Field grade and are engraved, that is another story, but sometimes on guns like an Ideal you can use small metal carving punches to replicate the hash marks.