loctite and the rear site

CO · Post by CO » Mon May 29, 2006 8:42 pm

I have a Mark III 5 1/2 bull barrel. I was shooting the other day and my rear site completely fell off. Obviously I need a little loctite but I have a few ??s first. Any specific loctite? Where and how do I put the loctite on? And any other help would be great. I have never used loctite before and am new to guns so any help would be freatly apprecitated.

boomer47 · Post by **boomer47** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:26 pm

Take out the smaller of the two screws on the top of the sight base. This is the screw that holds the sight in position Clean it and the hole it goes in with solvent,center the base in the slot, put a drop of BLUE loctite on the threads and tighten it down.
DON"T put loctite on either of the two larger screws.

Post by **Bullseye** » Tue May 30, 2006 5:32 pm

You want to thoroughlly degrease the receiver's rear sight dovetail slot and the rear sight assembly. Don't forget to remove the holddown screw and degrease the screw's mounting hole. Blue (#242) locktite is a good light duty strength bond, or red (#271) medium strength bond. I'd use the red for the rear sight and the holddown screw. Allow at least 24 hours before using the pistol to give the locktite time to fully cure. Apply some to the dovetail slot and then a small amount to the screw hole. Here's a link to some instructions for removing and replacing the rear sight. Install the sight in the opposite direction from the removal directions. http://www.guntalk-online.com/detailstrip.htm#sight

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

Welcome to the forum!

rugerguy · Post by **rugerguy** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:33 pm

I too am new to this site but can help you out. We used to get a lot of that problem in our shops and I would avoid the 'loctite' and instead, with the sight base out of the dovetail, take a sharp punch and hit the bottom of the dovetail about 4 or 5 smacks and make some 'divets' (raise a bit of the metal on the bottom of the dovetail) then the sight base will need to be "tapped" in place and will sit more 'snug'. Make sure "before" you put the base back in place that you loosen ( back out 0 the small set screw up front and off to the side. Then when the base is back in 'position' then screw in this "set screw". You WANT to be able to have the sight base to move either left or right to "adjust" if you run out of "sight adjustment". Yes, we like to try and keep it all in the middle, but sometimes you do get one thats "off".
Once it's "set properly" it should NOT be moving on you, that's what the set screw is for.

NOTE, only use a 'non -metallic' punch or drift to tap on the sides of any sight body, so as to NOT distort, or mar the finish, yes, neatness counts!

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 10:31 pm

Welcome to Guntalk rugerguy! Your sage advice is always welcome here!

The dimple method is another good way to keep that sight base fastened to the receiver.

R,
Bullseye

boomer47 · Post by **boomer47** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 9:34 am

I got in two new Hunters last week and while getting them ready to go out the door I noticed that Ruger had put red loctite on the front sight screw as well as the rear sight hold down screw.
One of the first things I do is loctite both screws.
I hope this is a permanent change in assembly by Ruger. Someone there must have read a few of the many posts about the front sight falling off during the first trip to the range with a new pistol.

Post by **Bullseye** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 10:29 am

That's a good observation Boomer. I know Ruger has been pretty responsive in the past to the needs of its customer base. People call them all the time with problems, and ones on quality control get even more attention I'm sure. I also know that Ruger personnel peruse the gun boards for information on their products. They have read many things I've written for years and have mentioned some of them in our past conversations. Hopefully this little annoyance is now fixed since eveyone expects a brand new pistol to not disassemble itself.

R,
Bullseye