Thoughts on using threadlock when mounting a scope

[chris matthews]

thunder,
Not to steal your thunder, but I assemble and un-assemble 20-30 rifles a week, using red loctite. There is nothing permanent about it. Mind you, a drop will do you, not 5 gallons on the base screw. We (GA Precision and Badger Ordnance) have found that by using blue, we might as well spit on it.
Do what you want, I don't care, but I will continue to use red LocTite. I am not saying it's right or wrong, but 1000 rifles later it still works for me.

[ 12-15-2003: Message edited by: chris matthews ]

 

[chris matthews]

After thinking this over a little, I feel that I should retract my statements just a little.
If I was mounting the crappy screws with cheap rings, slot head or allen, then yeah I probably woudn't use loctite.
Since I primarily use Badgers that come with a high quality torx screw, then loctite it is. Haven't stripped one yet. Several of my rifles are in service with LE snipers and they can't afford the chance of anything coming loose. So I guess the application of loctite is application dependent.

 

[Guest]

Chris--
I'm sure the red works OK for you guys using the Badger and like equip (Torx head 8-40 stuff is hard to break).. I have had the displeasure, however, of disassembling rifles put together ten years ago by an overzealous gunsmith with a big bottle of red Loctite. These particular bases and rings had hex head screws and were all threaded 6-48.. They all had Loctite on the ring cap screws, and the bases were glued to the rifle with the stuff... This is my reason for staying away from it under normal conditions. I haven't ever had anything with the newer Torx fasteners come loose, and I dont use any threadlocker of any sort--That even came up as an issue with me and a co-worker--He wanted to Loctite everything on the gun we issue to our TACT Unit. I said why???--WE are the ones who have to take them back apart to work on them...He got the point.

BTW--I just replaced their aging 1" Leupolds with LR M1's in Marty's rings and bases...

 

[Guest]

That's pretty funny--We must have been typing at the same time...

 

[Guest]

NO NO NO-- Especially not the red stuff...
The red is meant to be semi-permanent. If you are building a rifle for someone else and don't want them to tamper with it(ie, I am an armorer for our TACT Unit)it works great. BUT, If you might want to remove the thing sometime in the future without heat or having to drill out a broken screw, proper torque on a TORX screw is the way yo go. I havent had one shoot loose yet without the Loctite, but I have had to fix a few that were "Loctited"(my own word) and woundn't come apart.

 

[chris matthews]

Gee, that's funny, if you read Badger's instructions on the site, they say to use LocTite.
Obviously a bunch of different opinions so flip a coin and pick one!!