Loc-tite?

[ed dixon]

Do you Loc-tite the screws on your scope rings? Never? Always? Only if looseness is noticed after use?

 

[Art Eatman]

Never have seemed to need it. So far, I've been able to screw everything together well enough that it stays that way, without that "tighten until it gives and then back off 1/4 turn".

, Art

 

[coldshot03/04]

Never.

 

[LIProgun]

I always use blue Loctite (#242) on scope mounts and rings. Cheap insurance.

 

[Shalako]

Some gun shop commando once told me that they never used Loc-tite because the hydraulic forces generated when turning the screws with fluid in them could blow out the threads.....

I'll run a finite element model on the helical pressure gradients and get back to you...

Oh wait, maybe if you turn the threads tooo fast you will set up a reverberating water hammer shock wave in the undamped 3rd mode of oscillation of the component structure...Holy carp! I gotta go...(Ok I made that part up.)

 

[50 Freak]

I do on the rings, especially if the rings are dedicated to one scope and there is no need to remove the scope from the rings.

Cheap insurance especially since I shoot 50s

 

[hksw]

Some gun shop commando once told me that they never used Loc-tite because the hydraulic forces generated when turning the screws with fluid in them could blow out the threads.....

Hahaha, that's pretty funny. They must have stripped a few bolts and holes from overtorqing to arrive at that conclusion.

I've always Loctited by bases but never had the need to do the rings.

 

[Monkeyleg]

I've always used blue Loctite on scope rings, and without a problem.

I've used Loctite on car and motorcycle parts as well. Over the past few years I've noticed that many Harley shops have backed off on the use of Loctite, with the wrenches saying that the stuff damages the threads. Until last weekend I didn't believe them. But, while tearing apart my motor, I did notice that some of the smaller fasteners didn't seem to have threads as crisp as they should be. Now, that could be due to the fact that those fasteners (bolts, screws) have been screwed and unscrewed many times, and each time received a fresh drop of the blue stuff.

If anyone has more knowledge in this area, I'd love to hear about it.