Gunsmithing To loctite or not

JonLSU

JonLSU

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Jan 18, 2007
295
51
Corpus Christi, TX
#1
Alright I'm getting ready to put my 700p back together. I took it apart to paint and I have read a few mixed reviews on loctiting the screws. Should I blue loctite the base screws, the screws in the bottom of the scope mount, and the screws that are in the top part of the rings? What says the hide.....
 
#2
Re: To loctite or not

I use the blue Loctite (medium in Red Bottle) for most screws. The mount screws and others get a small drop on each. The ring tops I don't put anything on. But unless I'm sure everything is where it needs to be, it doesn't get anything. I wait and set the eye length at the range where I can set it under using type conditions.

The screws don't HAVE to have anything on them. But if you do decide it's needed, a light coat of my wife's fingernail polish has held screws for decades.

DO NOT use the red colored Loctite on anything you have the most remote thought you might want to take apart someday.

Good luck.
 
#9
Re: To loctite or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wnroscoe</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Blue Loctite the base screws and torque to 15"Lbs. No Loctite on the cap screws, 15"Lbs. The base screws are the only screws I Loctite. </div></div>

What he said...
 
#12
Re: To loctite or not

Saw your post, didn't read and of the responses. So....here's my take on Loc-Tite. My rifles that are used on duty are done the following way, FYI only use the blue Loc-Tite.

Base screws> Loc-Tite on threads
Ring top screws> Loc-Tite on the head of the screw only
Action screws>Same as base screws
 
#13
Re: To loctite or not

Blue locktite is probably the safer way to go...

But I've never had trouble getting a screw out with red on it. Most of the time people strip screws it's because they used the wrong size driver/wrench and didnt take their time. Or they used a big drop of loctite and not the correct amount.

But ya, use blue. Leave the red to me
wink.gif
 
#15
Re: To loctite or not

Let’s put it this way. If you use "red" Loc-tite and you strip the screw head later trying to remove it, I'll charge you $15.00 + return shipping per hole to remove the old screw and open it up to 8-40. There is absolutely no reason to use red Loc-tite on your base screws or any screw associated with a rifle.

So use red and it might cost you a minimum of $130 in labor and shipping both ways to fix that little problem, so using the red is up to you.
 
#17
Re: To loctite or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JonLSU</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've learned through the years not to use red. I always use blue unless its on a gas block where it gets hi-temp red. Thanks </div></div>
One of my newer machine assemblers used red locktite instead of blue when assembling some 80/20 guarding on a peper machine before the shop trial run before we shipped it to the customer. He spent quite a few hours with a propane torch removing them after the trial run. He didn't get any overtime for a couple weeks after that one.
 
#18
Re: To loctite or not

I clean the 6-48 threads on the screw and in the receiver with Alcohol.

I put Loctite 242 on the threads.

Troubleshooting guns that do not group well, half the time it is loose mount to receiver screws.

To check those screws, the rings must come off the mounts, loosing what ever zero there was. People are shy about checking, but that is where the problem is half the time.

The ring to mount gets loose sometimes.
Then ring caps never seen to get loose.
 
#19
Re: To loctite or not

I use blue loc tite on the base screws since the base comes off so infrequently and at the suggestion of Glen Seekins I use nail polish on the ring screws as a screw back out deterrent. So far so good on both counts.
 
#20
Re: To loctite or not

From SSK owner and designer, JD Jones, comes this bit of knowledge..."Life is too short to put loctite on the threads of screws". Naked screws, tighten to correct torque, then put ONE, repeat, ONE drop of green wicking loctite on the HEAD of the screws. Wipe off any excess with a Q-Tip and clean out the recess with the other end. It will not loosen, but you can remove it with a close fitting bit. Just my experience.
 
#21
Re: To loctite or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HateCA</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Let’s put it this way. If you use "red" Loc-tite and you strip the screw head later trying to remove it, I'll charge you $15.00 + return shipping per hole to remove the old screw and open it up to 8-40. There is absolutely no reason to use red Loc-tite on your base screws or any screw associated with a rifle.

So use red and it might cost you a minimum of $130 in labor and shipping both ways to fix that little problem, so using the red is up to you.
</div></div>

Randy is right, dont use Red. I do cause I like to be different
wink.gif


When I said a tiny amount, I mean an amount so small its rediculous. When I turn the screws out, I can feel it break loose with good force and doesnt even begin to strip. Torx head screws are pretty hard to strip if you use the right size and make sure the wrench is all the way in there. Allen head screws are a different story, but I dont use allen head screws on anything.
 
#24
Re: To loctite or not

I don't use any locktite on any scope mounts.

The lightest locktite, #222, is OK to use on cap screws, but not necessary.

A dab of grease on the threads of aluminum screws/mounts will prevent galling.

I have seen knowledgeable benchresters use oil on their cap screw threads, reason being the screws will torque to a different spec wet vs dry.
 
#25
Re: To loctite or not

I use blue Loctite on base mount screws. I also coat the base with blue Loctite before mounting it, which acts as a corrosion inhibiter against water which penetrates the receiver/base interface.

I don't use Loctite on ring cap screws. In general, a screw tightened to the correct torque specification is held in place by tension.
 
#26
Re: To loctite or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: wnroscoe</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Blue Loctite the base screws and torque to 15"Lbs. No Loctite on the cap screws, 15"Lbs. The base screws are the only screws I Loctite. </div></div>

that's inch pounds, or just a cunt more than a foot pound, and I also use blue loctite
 
#30
Re: To loctite or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NineHotel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">You are both wrong - the correct unit of measurement is RCH
wink.gif
</div></div>

By experience that's about .0025"
wink.gif
 
#34
Re: To loctite or not

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Outsydlooknin75</div><div class="ubbcode-body">If my memory is correct a rch is thinner than a bch, not by much but there is a difference in the thickness. </div></div>

I thought the red one was the thickest. Then you have to consider wet or dry!
 
#42
Re: To loctite or not

People bed actions, and, in fact, some people bed scope bases.

I suspect that the required precision for a fit of the base to the action is not very high. In fact, the Loctite coating may act as a bedding compound. My experience has been that the actions of some rifles are not very consistent in the area the base is mounted to - I won't mention any names...
laugh.gif
 
#44
Re: To loctite or not

A fellow Hider just bought a LTR from a local pawn shop. He was all in the air about it- good price and very clean rifle. He took it home, pulled the scope off and found Nightforce 2-piece bsses. He found the bases hard to remove, so he moved on to the action screws. When he FINALLY got them off, he saw they were sealed with red loctite.

If you know you will never-ever-ever want to remvove it, by all means go red.
 
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