Epoxy or Liquid Nails to Glue Replacement Grip on 1851 Navy

V

VMass

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I have an Uberti 1851 Navy in .36 caliber and love it. I thought I would change it up a bit, and replace the wood grips with simulated Ivory (Magna-Tusk). I bought a 2 piece set (which look pretty darn good) and find that I still need to glue down a small tab at the lower rear interior of each half to keep it from shifting around. The seller recommends using an epoxy, but in nearly all the You Tubes I've seen it seems the glue gets past the vaseline coating on the metal frame. Has anyone ever used "Liquid Nails" which may be a bit easier to confine during the hardening process? My only concern is will the Liquid Nails, once cured, hold up to repeated recoil. Thanks for your input.
 
I'm not a fan of faux, simulated materials so I haven't worked with Magna-Tusk or even know exactly what it's made of other than it likely mostly some sort of plastic.
I'd probably try to find out what the actual manufacturer recommends, since they will know exactly what Magna-Tusk even is and have the best chance of knowing what bonds well with it.
I've built and repaird all sorts of things with epoxies and also liquid nails and my gut would lean toward epoxy being the better choice as far as maintaining the bond and holding up, for whatever that's worth.
 
I have done the same thing to Ruger single actions to stop the grip from sliding. I used Imperial Sizing Wax as the release and epoxy never had a problem with the epoxy not releasing.Mix the epoxy really well and wait till it just starts to thicken.Just starts to thicken is the key then don’t fool around
 
Of your options I would choose epoxy but my choice would be a gorilla glue product somewhat like goop or shoe goo. Either of those will do the job but takes sometime to set up. The gorilla glue is used by putting a coat on each surface, letting it set for two minutes, and put the two parts together. It's stuck right then. Any squeeze out is easily removed with some kind of scraper. Fingernail, knife blade, toothpick, little piece of wood or plastic, all will get it.

In your case I would apply it to the small piece, set it place to coat the grip, remove it and let it sit for it's two minutes and press it in place being careful to get it exactly where it needs to be and you are done.
 
A thick 2 part epoxy is much easier to work with in situations like this because it will not run like thinner epoxies. Acraglas is a good thick 2 part epoxy that should do the job nicely. JB Weld is another thicker (a little thinner than acraglas) with a filler which strengthens the epoxy. If all you have is a thin epoxt you can usually thicken it with a material like saw dust or even dry powdery dirt.

I would not use liquid nails. It is a thickened polyurethane based adhesive that will not hold nearly as well as epoxy.
 
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