Extremely tight nipple on a factory new Uberti 1860 Army

[bear166]

Howdy everyone. Not sure if you would call this a cautionary tale or just something I found interesting, but I thought I'd share my experience in preparing my new 1860 which showed up from Midway yesterday.

Planning to shoot it this weekend, I decided to get straight to business when it arrived and got out the Simple Green. This gun seemed particularly greasy, but I didn't think much of it as I recall my 1851 Navy (also an Uberti) was pretty drenched in the stuff as well. All was going well until I got to the last nipple... I broke not one, but two nipple wrenches trying to get this stubborn thing out! One or two of the others were in their pretty tight as well, but this was something else. I was finally able to remove it, and I'll be damned if it didn't look like there was Loctite in the threads (not the best picture, I apologize). Very strange, and I'm going to be honest, rather frustrating at the time. Luckily I got all that gunk out of there and it's ready to go for Sunday. Just curious if anyone else has experienced anything like this, because I certainly don't remember my Navy being this gunked up.

 

[AlexanderA]

Threaded components of the Italian guns are often torqued too tight. There is a standing joke about "Guido" who works at the factory.

 

[Captain*kirk]

The purple hue certainly looks like some sort of threadlocker, though I'm not sure which. Loctite comes in blue, red, green and purple, and the purple is "low strength, easy removal" although I have no idea why anyone would use threadlocker on nipples. Clean them off with acetone and apply a dab of anti seize to the male threads. Install them snug, not tight, and you won't have anymore issues.https://duckduckgo.com/?q=loctite+c...=https://asaptec.com/images/loctite-pg-78.png

 

[bear166]

Threaded components of the Italian guns are often torqued too tight. There is a standing joke about "Guido" who works at the factory.

Hahaha, it's funny you mention that, a friend of mine who was present while I was cursing at the gun made exactly that joke, right down to the name. He's not familiar with their guns though I don't think!

I own five Italian reproductions, and come to think of it, I've found myself cursing quite a few of the screws on those guns over the years.

 

[bear166]

The purple hue certainly looks like some sort of threadlocker, though I'm not sure which. Loctite comes in blue, red, green and purple, and the purple is "low strength, easy removal" although I have no idea why anyone would use threadlocker on nipples. Clean them off with acetone and apply a dab of anti seize to the male threads. Install them snug, not tight, and you won't have anymore issues.https://duckduckgo.com/?q=loctite+colors+chart&t=newext&atb=v250-1&iax=images&ia=images&iai=https://asaptec.com/images/loctite-pg-78.png

Well, low strength and easy removal are both terms that I would definitely not use, but there was apparently a lot of it in there. I've used a lot of purple loctite in my time, but I've never had trouble like that undoing it.

I also have no idea why it would have been applied, especially to only two of the nipples, mostly just to one. And on a new gun... I could see someone who doesn't regularly clean their revolver doing something like that, but I really have no explanation for this. Either way, it's out now, and there is no issue removing or installing them. Just thought it was odd!

 

[Rebel Dave]

Sounds like the Italian nipple gorilla survived covid also.

Dave

 

[bear166]

Sounds like the Italian nipple gorilla survived covid also.

Dave

Not just survived, but apparently thrived!

 

[AntiqueSledMan]

I think the bast way to remove a bolt or nut which has been sealed with loctite is heat.
Not necessarily a torch, a good heat gun works well too.
Nipples should never be loctite in.

AntiqueSledMan.

 

[Malachi Leviticus Blue]

One pro tip from experience -
Always have a high quality nipple wrench that fits the nipple perfectly.
IMO - This is easiestly accomplished by making your own and fitting to the nipple.
I'm made them from 1/4 in deep sockets and grade 8 bolts

 

[4v50 Gary]

The purple hue certainly looks like some sort of threadlocker, though I'm not sure which. Loctite comes in blue, red, green and purple, and the purple is "low strength, easy removal" although I have no idea why anyone would use threadlocker on nipples. Clean them off with acetone and apply a dab of anti seize to the male threads. Install them snug, not tight, and you won't have anymore issues.

Concur. No reason to appy locktite.

I think the bast way to remove a bolt or nut which has been sealed with loctite is heat.
Not necessarily a torch, a good heat gun works well too.
Nipples should never be loctite in.

AntiqueSledMan.

Heat is your friend. Even if there is no locktite, if something was difficult, sometimes we used a propane torch to heat the metal to make it easier to diassemble a stubborn gonne.

 

[paul harm]

The best nipple wrench I own is one made from [ I think ] a #8 metric 1/4" drive deep well socket wrench. I ground a slot with a small cut off wheel in my Dermal tool. It doesn't break.

 

[Tranberg]

Sometimes Loctite is just used to keep moisture and dirt out of the threads, actually making unscrewing easier than if they were left dried or oiled.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

When the Gorilla stays home sick, (or says he's sick on a Friday or Monday) they bring in the Drunk Monkey.

 

[Jimster]

Strong Italians. I had a clean out screw on a Pedersoli Sharps falling block that required a gunsmith bit with a ratchet to remove.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Just hope they never install the spark plugs in your car's engine. I've run across a few cars that Tony must have worked on.

 

[bear166]

I think the bast way to remove a bolt or nut which has been sealed with loctite is heat.
Not necessarily a torch, a good heat gun works well too.
Nipples should never be loctite in.

AntiqueSledMan.

Sadly I didn't have anything like that on hand at the time. Probably would have made life a little easier though.

One pro tip from experience -
Always have a high quality nipple wrench that fits the nipple perfectly.
IMO - This is easiestly accomplished by making your own and fitting to the nipple.
I'm made them from 1/4 in deep sockets and grade 8 bolts

That's a good idea. Admittedly neither nipple wrench was any good, both were made of pot metal and while they both fit (and have been used many times to remove the same type of nipple), neither was a very perfect fit.

Sometimes Loctite is just used to keep moisture and dirt out of the threads, actually making unscrewing easier than if they were left dried or oiled.

That's an interesting thought, perhaps it does explain why it was in there. But they certainly did not accomplish their goal of making it easier to unscrew.