25 pounder backing plates question

[rob love]

I'm working on restoring one of my 25 pounders, and I have a question about the brake backing plates. There are four flathead machine screws that go through the plate and are held on by four nuts, leaving about an inch of exposed thread. On mine, they have been bent a bit. The heads do not protrude inside the plates, so they are not for a rubbing surface for the shoes. The parts manual, while it shows them, does not give part numbers or descriptions for them.



The only thing I have come across that might explain them is in the ordnance handbook. It talks about the backing plate having a mud scraper secured to each cover plate by two bolts with spring washers and nuts. Is that what these screws are for?



My temptation at this point is to cut them flush to the nuts and forget about them.