How many times have you picked up an old Parker shotgun and looked at distorted or mangled screws after someone tried to dismantle the gun?  Anyone who has looked at even a few Parkers has seen them, it may be the biggest problem of all for Parkers.

The very first thing to do is to clean the slot of any debris, rust, dried hard oil or whatever else might be in there. Toothpicks are a good start but if you need something more aggressive, a dental pick can be used. 

If a screw head was "buggered", it may be possible to repair it rather than replace it.  Don't file off the burrs but rather just peen it back into place. Filing removes the metal but a "buggered" screw head has all its metal intact, its just not where it should be.  With a little care, the metal can be persuaded back into its proper position.

First off, be patient.  Use various sized brass punches and a very small hammer.  Use very light tapping during this process.  When the screw head is messed up, a screwdriver blade slipped under some pressure and twisted the metal edge of the slot out and up.  To repair, return the metal in the opposite fashion, so start at the farthest point from the big ugly lump and faness the metal back into its proper place.  Do this with the screw in place, or if it is already out, place it in a soft jawed vice.  Use a small brass punch first and begin pushing the metal back toward the slot.  BE PATIENT!  Progress to larger punches, just larger enough to fully catch the marred edge.  With patience and perseverance the screw head can be "unbuggered".

If using steel punches rather than brass, keep the tapping very light.  The bit of metal you are trying to move back into place is compromised, so the softer the punch used the better.

The "new" edge of the screw slot will not be as strong as an unmarred screw but the slot will look pretty decent and if proper hollow ground tips are used, the screw can still turn without marring it.

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