Torque Rail To Remington 700

[Troutslayer2]

I took one of my rifles out the other day and found that the rail has become loose. It's a one piece rail. How many pounds should I torque the small screws that hold the rail to the receiver, and should I use Loctite, and if so, red or blue? This is the first time this has happened to me.

 

[JMW67]

rail mfg should have torque specs I would think around 40 in lbs though and yes on the blue loc tite if you use red you will need heat to ever remove it

 

[MagnumManiac]

I have my rails pinned and use blue or purple loktite on the screws.
If the rail can move, even the slightest, it will come loose. If it gets loose enough, the screws will shear under recoil and the whole kit and kaboodle will fly off the receiver.
I had this happen years ago, the scope was real heavy, 890 grams with rings and rail. It sheared the screws twice before I had it pinned, front and rear. No amount of torquing on those itty bitty screws was enough, I even had the receiver drilled/tapped to #8-40 and it still moved. The issue turned out to be misalignment with the bottom of the rail, replaced it and the problem never returned.
Bedding it could have helped, but I just replaced it.

Cheers.

 

[338 dude]

I took one of my rifles out the other day and found that the rail has become loose. It's a one piece rail. How many pounds should I torque the small screws that hold the rail to the receiver, and should I use Loctite, and if so, red or blue? This is the first time this has happened to me.

Definitely only blue Loctite or you will never get it apart

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I just ordered a EGW pic base for a rifle. The specs call for 20 in/lbs.

 

[ShtrRdy]

I use blue loc-tite and 20 in-lb

 

[Professor Doolittle]

I have my rails pinned and use blue or purple loktite on the screws.
If the rail can move, even the slightest, it will come loose. If it gets loose enough, the screws will shear under recoil and the whole kit and kaboodle will fly off the receiver.
I had this happen years ago, the scope was real heavy, 890 grams with rings and rail. It sheared the screws twice before I had it pinned, front and rear. No amount of torquing on those itty bitty screws was enough, I even had the receiver drilled/tapped to #8-40 and it still moved. The issue turned out to be misalignment with the bottom of the rail, replaced it and the problem never returned.
Bedding it could have helped, but I just replaced it.

Cheers.

Not sure what you mean by misalignment with the bottom of the rail. Mine keeps coming loose and the concave radius of the pic rail is clearly not matching the convex radius of the receiver.

 

[ShtrRdy]

Not sure what you mean by misalignment with the bottom of the rail. Mine keeps coming loose and the concave radius of the pic rail is clearly not matching the convex radius of the receiver.

Sounds like you need to bed the rail to the action.

 

[Professor Doolittle]

Sounds like you need to bed the rail to the action.

just spoke to the manufacturer he said to clean it real good then use Loctite primer that use Loctite red with higher torque and if that doesn't work bed it with epoxy.

 

[ShtrRdy]

just spoke to the manufacturer he said to clean it real good then use Loctite primer that use Loctite red with higher torque and if that doesn't work bed it with epoxy.

On a side note - if using loctite on the threads you may need to torque to a lower value because the loctite will act as a lubricant.

 

[xsn10s]

just spoke to the manufacturer he said to clean it real good then use Loctite primer that use Loctite red with higher torque and if that doesn't work bed it with epoxy.

If you use red loctite be ready to use heat to remove screws. My previous smith used red loctite when it wasn't necessary (308 Win). I used heat but impact ultimately broke the stripped allen head screws out.

 

[xsn10s]

I just clean off the threads and screws with alcohol or acetone and use blue loctite. So far that's worked just fine.

 

[Racer00]

Bed the base to the receiver. Screws shouldn't hold a sheer force. They should clamp. By bedding you get perfect a perfect match between rail and action. Then the screws hold the two perfectly fitted parts together. I use JB weld and don't use release agent to bed with. Then blue loctite for final install. You can still remove it if needed with some heat and a tap or two. Then some elbow grease to clean things up. There are some great videos out there to show how it's done.

 

[Troutslayer2]

Follow up- I had the rail pinned so I don't have to worry about it coming loose on a hunt.