Look before you Loc-tite

[gnmwilliams]

I learned three things today:

Lesson 1: Loc-tite does what it advertises. It locks things tight.

Lesson 2: The first two holes drilled in the top of a Ruger Mark III Hunter don't go all the way through the barrel. The third one does. It opens just above the main-spring housing of the bolt.

Lesson 3: See lesson 1

It all started with just one little screw that kept wiggling loose so I figured "Hey, I'll just squirt a little loc-tite into the hole and that'll fix it. So I proceed to squirt some loc-tite down the hole, put the screw back in, and leave it to dry overnight. It worked for the other two screws so I didn't think anything of it till I get to the range and try to chamber a round. Locked solid. Well . Long story short it took three hours, a hairdryer and a mallet to get the bolt loose, half a bottle of nail polish remover, and half of my thumbnail to scrape out the loc-tite from each and every individual spring coil. The rest of it kinda just flaked out of the chamber. Fortunately, it didn't get down into the trigger assembly or the extractor so it should be ok. I haven't been able to get back to the range yet to make sure but everything seemed to be functioning properly once i got it back together. So yeah folks, always look before you loc-tite.

[Luckyforward]

Oh man . . . go get a bottle of vodka and relax

[LA_357SIG]

Was this the red loctite? I had a bottle since 2006 and I've put a dab on just about every bolt on my firearms and though they have never come a loose I've never had trouble removing the bolt w/o using a soldering iron or excessive heat. Maybe I'm thinking about the blue loctite that's a PITA to unlock.

[Guest jackdm3]

Beat me to it. Was just gonna say you can apply the soldering iron to the screwheads that are stubborn.

[herr.baer]

I thought you are suppose to put loc-tite on the threads not down in the hole.

[Guest jackdm3]

Sometimes applying it only to the threads will result in the goo being rolled out of the threads towards the head and out the hole if it's a tight fit. In essence, the hole's threads wipe the screw's threads off.

[MikeW]

Doh... I hate it when stuff like that happens.

Glad to see that you were able to get it worked out.

[gnmwilliams]

It was blue and yeah I had been putting it just on the threads and it wasn't holding but I think I'll stick to re-tightening the loose ones from now on. I seriously thought I had bricked the gun on this one. The entire spring was a solid block of loc-tite.

Edited June 9, 2010 by gnmwilliams

[enfield]

The red is the "loctiteyist", next is blue and then purple. You're supposed to put a small amount on the threads only. One little patch will spread during assembly and glue the assembly together, more or less permanently.

Loctite isn't as big a pain as Superglue, which is mainly used to glue fingers together.

[I_Like_Pie]

I have used ultra fine, lightweight monofiliment fishing line to things that I don't want to back out in places that I still need to occasionally remove

Gripframes for my large caliber revolvers, mounting plugs....etc. Works quite well.

[Mad_Squirrell]

I have used ultra fine, lightweight monofiliment fishing line to things that I don't want to back out in places that I still need to occasionally remove

Gripframes for my large caliber revolvers, mounting plugs....etc. Works quite well.

Curious as to how this works? Please explain further.

[turkeydad]

just be thankfull it wasnt the green stuff. . .its called sleeve retainer. . .must heat to over 500 degrees before it'll let go at all

[I_Like_Pie]

Curious as to how this works? Please explain further.

Cut a 3/8" to 1/4" piece of very fine monofiliment, drop it in the screw hole with just the tip poking out the top. Screw in like normal.

The combination of interference in the threads + the compression of the screw head against the line keeps things from backing out. Does not hold as tight as locktite, but good enough for most any non-vibrating application.

[-boatman-]

I know of one gun shop where they use nail polish instead of loctite and they say it works great. I have never tried it and can't verify that it works.

[Guest mikedwood]

Glad you got it fixed. I have a hard enough time field stripping my Mark III. Can't imagine major surgury on one.

[Mad_Squirrell]

Cut a 3/8" to 1/4" piece of very fine monofiliment, drop it in the screw hole with just the tip poking out the top. Screw in like normal.

The combination of interference in the threads + the compression of the screw head against the line keeps things from backing out. Does not hold as tight as locktite, but good enough for most any non-vibrating application.

Hrmmm very interesting . will have to keep this handy trick in mind. so like a 6lb test fishing line or would you need smaller?

[JPR1959]

You should try and find 242 Loctite in paste form. It comes in a tube like chapstick. It is the easiest to use. Much easier to control. If you can't instead of dripping some on your screws, drop some on a piece of plastic and dip your screws in it.

[Guest Cowboy Dan]

I have used Loctite products for years. They're great. For small holes of uncertain depth, use a toothpick or a match to pick up just a small amount and smear it onto the internal threads, and then wipe what's left onto the external threads.

Using string or somesuch to take up space in threads is an old carpenter's trick for tightening up loose screws. I think my dad picked it up from HIS dad. They were both master carpenters. I, dammit, went to college.