I got a screw loose...

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1976B.L.Johns.

1976B.L.Johns.

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Actually, three screws came loose on my S&W 460 XVR(right side). My question is: Will putting a drop of serviceable blue thread locker on said culprits hamper a gunsmith (Not me.I am not a smith) in any future disassembly?

Thanks in advance,
B.L.
 
Depending on the condition of the screw head and fit of the screwdriver, blue can be hard to remove. I'd back off to purple (loctite 222) and see if it resolves the issue before resorting to blue. Purple is likely to cure the issue and poses less risk.
 
I've got all common grades of loctite and have been using them for 30 years. But since you linked it, official recommendation for blue is for use on minimum 1/4" diameter fasteners. Purple is better for stuff like this, but a gunsmith is likely to have tools and technique good enough to remove small slot-head machine screws fixed by blue if the heads are in good shape. I use purple on everything Philips or slot-head and very small allen-head stuff.

Recommended For
  • Use on metal fasteners 1/4' (6 mm) to 3/4' (19 mm) in diameter such as bolts on small engines, swing sets and furniture
 
Thanks for the responses ray15 and The Evangelist Cowboy! Going with the purple.......Had an unopened carded container of "blue" and DUH, application directions for different colors of thread locker are on the printed on the back....Seems sometimes I do not see the forest for the trees, or is it the other way around.

Thanks again!

B.L.
 
total recoil said:
OR....... if ya' don't have Locktite.... grab your wife's nail polish. Worked fine for me.
Click to expand...
I've heard that said many times, so I picked up some clear nail polish and tried it. While it's possible nail polish ain't what it used to be, the stuff I got didn't work well at all compared to purple loctite. Purple is excellent for most firearms purposes. I only use blue if purple has failed to prevent a fastener from loosening. I use red on dovetail sights that don't have any locking screws.

Back in the day when I built cars and racing engines, we used never used purple, but the fasteners were essentially always 1/4" or larger. We used allen screws and red anywhere on an engine except the head bolts. And green in really hot applications, although red suffers heat well. Even at that we had to safety-wire certain critical fasteners.
 
ray15 and Mizar, thanks for the comments. Like I said, I will go with the 222. I kinda feel guilty posting this ? cuz the answer was sitting in my shop/garage. For those that may not know, an anaerobic is something that will "live" without oxygen, or in the case of assembly products it will cure without air. Learned that years ago splitting crankcases etc. on the rebuilding of snowmobile engines.

But back on topic, 222 will do and the only time I may use nail polish would be on a front sight.;)
 
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