Rear sight won't lock down after I "fixed" it (bad

[FourCornerm'n]

2005 22/45 blued Competition Target rear site was loose and I've managed to damage the receiver/sight slot enough that my 3rd or 4th fix isn't working.

The whole sight base wandered all the way out to the right a couple of times. I kept cranking down on new sight stabilization screws sent by the good folks at Ruger. The third screw just broke from the top. A friend said to ping the slight hole atop the frame that the stabilization screw was supposed to nudge into, but my attempt failed as the ding-ping slipped a bit to the left and scraped out instead of downwards, leaving little purchase for another downward attempt. Another friend (I asked them both for help) whacked the center of the receiver/sight base channel to upraise a round welt that he thought would hold the sight once I put it back. It held for a week, until I shot the gun!

Now the sight wanders to the left and only holds in one place for about 10-20 rounds before it tries to slip a little further left. It's obvious what's wrong now, but I also don't know what caused the original problem. The whole sight base doesn't move very easily in or out of the sight slot. But I've sure massacred the spot on the left side of the receiver/sight base channel that the stabilization screw is supposed to fit into.

Does anyone have a clue? Ruger must've handled these before. Maybe?

[bearandoldman]

2005 22/45 blued Competition Target rear site was loose and I've managed to damage the receiver/sight slot enough that my 3rd or 4th fix isn't working.

The whole sight base wandered all the way out to the right a couple of times. I kept cranking down on new sight stabilization screws sent by the good folks at Ruger. The third screw just broke from the top. A friend said to ping the slight hole atop the frame that the stabilization screw was supposed to nudge into, but my attempt failed as the ding-ping slipped a bit to the left and scraped out instead of downwards, leaving little purchase for another downward attempt. Another friend (I asked them both for help) whacked the center of the receiver/sight base channel to upraise a round welt that he thought would hold the sight once I put it back. It held for a week, until I shot the gun!

Now the sight wanders to the left and only holds in one place for about 10-20 rounds before it tries to slip a little further left. It's obvious what's wrong now, but I also don't know what caused the original problem. The whole sight base doesn't move very easily in or out of the sight slot. But I've sure massacred the spot on the left side of the receiver/sight base channel that the stabilization screw is supposed to fit into.

Does anyone have a clue? Ruger must've handled these before. Maybe?

Call Ruger, maybe they will help you. You may have to send the gun to them?????????

[Bullseye]

You could also lightly dress down the dimpled metal in the bottom of the dovetail with a needle file, that should do the trick where the metal meets the rear sight mount set screw. I would also thoroughly degrease the slot and sight base then apply some Locktite #271 (Red medium strength sealant) and let it cure for 24 hours.

R,
Bullseye

[blue68f100]

I was thinking the red was the high strength and normally required heat to remove. And blue is the med strength.

If it's that loose the red may still be the best option for long term use anyway.

[Bullseye]

Yes, my mistake the red #271 is the high strength threadlocker sealant. I use it all the time and that should solve your rear sight problem.

R,
Bullseye

[FourCornerm'n]

Thanks for the information and the clarification. I'll be putting this together after degreasing the slot & base, working the dimple, and then by applying some red loctite - as soon as I can.

FourCornerm'n

[Bullseye]

How did your rear sight base repair go?

R,
Bullseye

[FourCornerm'n]

I showed it to my good friend who, as usual, had an idea of his own. I wanna mention him, only because this guy deserves credit for so many things among his friends for being one of the best guys in the world. He's even more elderly than me, and says, when he can't go out to shoot any more he'll be laying in a VA, reading gun magazines. Wide range of knowledge and experience. But he has this habit (I call it a flaw), that those who know him have to deal with. If a set of 4 tires costs more than $49, or, heaven forbid, if a recommendation is made by a PROFESSIONAL, he laughs his head off at the foolishness of it all. I'm the opposite. I respect professional advice more than he denigrates it. It wouldn't surprise you, Bullseye, to hear that, in fact, I LOVE professional advice. (I've got a half worn set of Michelin LTX M/S tires on my 19 yr old P/U, to boot!).

The point is that he saw that the set screw Ruger sent me a while back was not pointed, but is flat and, I think, textured or machined on the bottom. His reasonable solution is to get the hard metal pointed screw he's familiar with as being the proper set screw. He also wanted to hammer down the wings of the dovetail with his leather hammer to tighten things. You would advise me to say no, but I let him do it. A fix might not work, but he doesn't break things. He finished and returned the sight into the dovetail, cranked hard on the flat bottomed screw and told me to call Ruger to get the right one. Said it isn't gonna hold like it is. Ruger'd been closed for 2-3 minutes when I called on Friday.

But, I put 420 rounds through the gun around noon today and his fix worked without my needing to do anything much. Screw didn't seem to need tightening when I tried to see if it did. This is a change from working loose after 20 rounds last week.

More'n one way to skin some cats, mey-bee.

I'm not too concerned about setting the sight base in concrete as the red loctite would seem to do. I won't be able to use the nice high-end Ruger sight base (he happened to give me) because the only scope the rings fit, an old Burris 1.1 magnification 25 yard Bullseye Scope, isn't likely to be used on this gun. (The large rear aperture means the rear sight has to come off). The basic version Ruger scope mount I have on it now suffices for one of my old Tasco (I) red dots which, when the scope's up, doesn't interfere with the rear sight blade like the Burris does.

The question comes up, though, whether medium blue locktite might work, in case there's ever a reason to remove the sight later?

And what about Ruger sight base set screws. Do they come in different flavors, one pointed, another flat and textured?

[blue68f100]

A pointed set screw will work but there is a catch. With pointed one you can not make minor adjustments. They have a tendency to walk back to the original hole.

The blue loctite will hold very well if the mating surfaces are clean of oil. And you can get it apart if needed. My require a tap with a punch, but will come loose.

[FourCornerm'n]

Thanks. Gonna watch what happens the next couple of range sessions. If the sight starts slippin' around a little, I'll use degreaser and apply some, most likely Blue, loctite. That should do it.

When I was tightening the set screw every 20 rds, the base was offset to the left where my digging into the receiver required it to be, and the sight blade was equally skewed to the right in the base, but center on the front sight. Now they are both centered. I don't usually have any need to adjust the rear sight base away from its center position. Cept in a gale, which I'll be avoiding. Think the problem's solved, or damn near almost for sure. Thanks, again.

[FourCornerm'n]

Confidence in the recent fix didn't last beyond unaccounted-for misses at easy distances with my Comp Target today.

Ruger called back from Friday's answer-machine contact with them. Jim, in Parts, who'd been such a help, is no longer there. Others seemed less experienced but willing.

They use a large industrial compressive (I guess) type machine to move the wings of a dovetail downward, and offered to have me send them my gun to make it right. It doesn't make sense to do this with lesser tools, even though my friend didn't do any damage. A significant percentage of the time it's not going to come out well, and might turn out badly enough.

I'll take it apart soon, degrease the base and receiver, take some dimpling out of the receiver dove tail, and because I've got some blue Loctite somewhere, I'll try that. It should do the trick. The base isn't moving as much as it did earlier.

I'm not going to loctite the set screw cause it'll be there forever and doesn't set in right anyway. Planning on using the loctite on receiver to base surface. I've got some Red Dykem (Sp?) that the fine Mr. Hoag gave me. Maybe I'll find a way to use it to show where I oughta best use the loctite.

Thanks - for so much help.

[Bullseye]

If the blue doesn't hold there's always the red. I use a heat gun or a big soldering iron to remove parts attached with the red locktite. The heat softens up the sealant and easily facilitates removal.

R,
Bullseye