Blue LocTite for Scope Mounting???

Mount Sweetness

Mount Sweetness

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Is it wise to use Blue LocTite on base screws and/or ring screws?

I have read that the Blue LocTite is removable with regular tools and is useful on base screws....?

Any thoughts on Blue Loctite....should I bother?
 
I only loc-tite the base screws, not the ring screws. Blue is OK, I used it for a while, good if you ever plan to change bases or whatever. If you know you're not changing anything, use red, it's 'permanent'
 
I wouldn't let red loctite touch any gun on mine. Nothing is THAT permanent. :)

Blue loctite is fine - both for bases and rings, but I only use it on bases. With proper torque, you shouldn't NEED it, unless called for by the manufacturer.
 
LOCTITE 222 Purple

The also make purple LOCTITE 222 - it is weaker than blue and IMO more suitable for scope mounting and similar small screws.

From the spec sheet:
LOCTITE® 222 is designed for the locking and sealing of
threaded fasteners which require easy disassembly with
standard hand tools. The product cures when confined in the
absence of air between close fitting metal surfaces and
prevents loosening and leakage from shock and vibration.
Particularly suitable for applications such as adjustment of
set screws, small diameter or long engagement length
fasteners, where easy disassembly is required without
shearing the screw.​

Snapshot
 
Blue is for stuff you want to take off.

Red is for stuff you want to never come off.

Green is for stuff that you do not want the next three owners of your stuff, to ever get off.

Both the red and the green will come off. Eventually. If they have to. And the guy taking the screws out has a serious heat source.

Those used to be the colors of the Locktite you got at the autoparts places, anyways.

Cheers
Trev
 
Blue for bases is good. I put grease on the rings - often enough adjust cant or eye relief, swap scopes or something. No issue with movement.

Put cloth/something inside your action to catch any loctite that flows through and clean up afterwards to ensure you got any remnants.
 
I can,t see why you need locktight on scope mounts. I have mounted lots of scopes over the years and never used locktight and I have never had a scope come loose.

:confused:
 
maybe you didn't. My first scope was put on at the bass-pro shop. After the 5th boxes of ammo my groups started to open up...
Put the blue loctite there, it doesn't hurt, you can only win with it.
 
We almost never use loctile in any fashion to mount scopes. If you have quality rings and bases and modern fastners with torx heads you should not need the support of loctite. If you choose to use it then blue only. Many older scope mounts that customers have broken off fastners and brought to us were installed with loctite. Phil.
 
got loctite with my m14 mount from sadlak, it came in a red baggie, so im assuming its red loctite, are you suggesting i shouldnt be using it at all?
 
Last edited:
charles.emond said:
got loctite with my m14 mount from sadlak, it came in a red baggie, so im assuming its red loctite, are you suggesting i shouldnt be using it at all?
Click to expand...

The reason that Sadlak adds it is that the majority of their mounts end up in military hands. They can't afford to have something come loose in a tactical situation.

Smith on the other hand doesn't recommend it nor say not to use it - I didn't use it with my mount on my M1A - then again I use torque wrenchs!

Use blue unless you want to cursh the day you put red loctite on!

Blue will negate any movement with the ability to remove without great effort later on. Just added security!
 
Just a little heads-up. Use thread lockers spairingly. More is not better. Just think what blue, or red thread lockers will do if they leak somewhere they do not belong.
Purple Loctite thread locker is probably the best choice for screws 3/16" and smaller.
 
Not true about the red - there are different set strengths. Don't remember the number offhand, but I think it's red Loctite 222 or 242?? Medium strength and it's not that hard to break free - you don't wind up stripping screw heads unless you're using a piece of garbage tapered flat head bit. They don't jar loose and torque stays constant.
 
If using Loctite 242 (the blue stuff) makes you feel better than go ahead and use it. So much of this game is a matter of perception. If you think it makes a difference then you'll be more confident in your equipment and perhaps you might even shoot a little better too.
 
Loctite is probably not required at all, but it is insurance of sorts and if used properly it will not hurt anything. That is assuming the screws are properly installed to the correct torque with the right tools.

BLUE on the bases, nothing on the rings is what i use, and what I have read in a gunsmithing book. One source recommended backing off the torque setting by 5%-10% to make up for the increased lubrication the wet loctite provides.

I have used both grades of blue loctite and didn't notice any difference between them.
 
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