1960 Golden Mountie forearm question

[KevinC]

Hello good people of the MCA,

Last year I purchased a 1960 Marlin Golden Mountie 39A. The rifle was in fantastic shape aside from the butt stock—it had been broken (split) and glued back together. I finally found a replacement butt stock on eBay but have not received it yet. I'm guessing that I will need to refinish the forearm & butt stock so that they will match... Which leads me to my question: Is there a trick to removing the forearm from the rifle? There is an end cap that has two flathead screws on both sides, but I can not seem to unscrew them. I have broken 2 flathead screwdriver bits and am worried about destroying the screws. I'm not sure if the previous owner (he has passed away) used some sort of glue to keep the screws in place, or if removing the screws is not the correct way to disassemble the forearm end plate. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks for your time.

Kevin

[garythefrog]

Sorry for my previous outburst, but, really Kevin take it to a professional.