Should the use of red loctite on scope mounts be a punishable offense? Bought a sweet little Ruger 257 Roberts the other day only to find the rings were cemented in place with red loctite. I wish I could count the number or times I have seen this over the years. Rant over.

Seems some on here have recommended a soldering iron to heat the screws.

Red Loctite adds a new meaning to set and forget.

#BlueLoctite

🦫

Works well.

Soldering iron +1

Red is one step below cross threading. 😂🤣

#driveithome

Red death!

My gunsmith chewed my ass for using blue lock tite on rings and base screws. Stopped using it many years ago and have had zero loose scope issues.

+1 on heat. Loosens it right up.

I use some type of thread locking agent on rings and mounts. Can easily see if something moves. Keeps mother nature's thread locker from setting in. Easy enough to undo with heat.

Red loctite isn't a big deal with a little heat...

I read the mention of purple LT a lot lately.

Is that milder than blue? In between blue or red?

Hanging offense...and should be preceded by copious amounts of torture.

Well give me another day or so to get over the
doctor's office draining me of most of my blood
before yall come to hang me.
I'd use JB Weld or similar on every screw on the
gun if I knew for sure it'd never have to come
apart. I like all my put-together things to stay
put-together at all times and especially for me to
be able to pick up a firearm at any given time and
put it into position and reliably fire, and not have
to think about checking for loose anything, or to
have a loose something cost me a shot
I have had optics and other screws and pins come
loose in the field, and I'll always do whatever I
can to prevent it from ever happening again

Nobody has to use any kind of thread locker if
they don't want to. I won't object

😂😂😂

I’ve been using purple on my base screws for quite some time. Nothing on the rings.

Red base and blue rings here.

Why in the world would anyone do that? I degrease and use blue locktite on all my bases and never have an issue.

What’s purple locktite? Never seen it...

It's what Loctite recommends on fasteners smaller than 1/4".

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/insights/all-insights/blog/about-purple-threadlocker.html

I might use red on bases, on rings I just de grease the screws and hole threads.

Clear nail polish.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +1^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

It worked well on the first scope I mounted over forty years ago and it still works just as good today.



Red Loctite? Seriously?

I have always thought rust was red loctite.

I use it all the time. It works.

That's orange loctite.

Have never used Loctite anywhere on guns, but do use Purple Loctite on fasteners I don’t want to come apart.

. That's what I use. Holds tight and comes apart easily.

Yeah, I'd look for a better "gunsmith". If he can't handle blue loctite, the bastid is pretty hopeless... Even red comes out easy enough with just a little heat.. I hear what the op is talking about though. When I was younger, it seemed like every used rifle I bought had screws welded in. Now, if there is any problem, just pull out the soldering iron and touch the screw head for about 20 seconds and the screw comes right out.. I only use blue loctite on the base screws though. Never had an issue with ring screws coming loose without it. Also, on some of the newer rings, they actually have a small amount of blue something on the threads.

Yikes! Always blue! Try the soldering iron trick!

been using model car black paint which comes in a very small bottle...its enamel

been using model car black paint which comes in a very small bottle...its enamel

Blue locktite should come in blue bottles. Would probably avoid some confusion.

That's a rant? I swear more than that in the bathroom every morning.

Finger nail polish if no loctite.

Why are you in the bathroom that long?

#Impactdriversrule.

Not a fan of red loctite on scope mounts. But I did use some this weekend when I replaced a titanium bigazz Kimber Montana bolt handle with a factory bolt handle I happened to have in my stash. Hopefully, it will keep anyone that owns it down the road from thinking about bastardizing it.

According to Dad a 'gunsmith' used red loctite on the rings of his CZ. I found this out when I tried to remove the Meopta from it. Looking back I wonder if it wasn't Dad who did it.

At the time I was cussing up a storm. Heat did nothing to loosen them so maybe that only works on some other type alloy. I ended up prying the rings open and completely destroying them which somehow made me feel better :-)

This was in Kerrville. I actually found CZ rings at Gibsons! Cost me another hundred but I got Dads new scope mounted and he got to hunt a while longer.

You should also loctite the scope dials, so they don't lose adjustment if accidently bumped.

I use to work for a chemical company. Every so often we would run a batch of what they used in their product. I can tell you that if that stuff was spilled on the floor and you stepped in it, it would nearly pull your shoes off. God forbid if you got it on your hands.

Years ago I had some issues with red and did some damage.Now I just buy quality rings and no loctite.

They do make a purple Loctite, that's made for parts that need to be disassembled.

Heat will get it loose

According to Loctite, 550 degrees and then twist while it's hot.

Maybe a drop of red in a bottle of blue will hold better, but still loosen without heat. Blue gets everything done for me. Either that or the bottle of old fingernail polish I bummed off my wife.....it's blue! LOL.

Knowing my luck, I can see accidently dropping a 550 degree heated screw in between my foot and shoe or something similar. Actually, I had heard about heat releasing the red loctite before, but never tried it. I have gotten cursing and stripping screw heads down pretty well though.

Ranger99,

I put you on ignore........to remind me to never buy anything from you.

I use a couple bottles of various loctite a year.

Red for bearing mount . Never on threads . Blue on threads for my industrial uses , never on rings.

I too have had to remove loctited ring mounts....... and 2 soldering irons won't get it hot enough to release. I usually end up drilling them out.

I use a Mapp Gas torch for my industrial needs .

We use locktite on the farm for some applications, blue and red . My understanding is red is for something you never want to take apart. I quit using blue on base screws years ago. It seems to gum up the threads so if you take them out and replace with new screws they can strip easily. Metal heated to 550 degrees would turn red in my opinion. It sure wouldn't be something I would feel comfortable doing to a rifle.

A couple wraps of two pound fishing leader, the screws won't come loose, yet are removable! Finger nail polish works, and acetone loosens it easily! Locktite is for industrial applications and automotive applications!

Purple loctite is so you don't shear off the head on small hardware.

When steel turns red via heat is not subject to opinion.

The problem comes when the surrounding metal is large enough that it draws the heat out of the screw before the screw gets up to the required temperature (i. e., the Loc-Tite melting temperature). It can never get there, or take a long time. My soldering iron is simply too slow to suit me -- I hold a piece of wire (a nail will do) against the screw and heat the wire with a propane torch. Works great.

I use red Loc-Tite some gun applications, e. g., a mag tube in S/A shotgun action. Beretta uses it there, so I figure they must have a good reason, so I do too. Otherwise I use it anywhere high heat from shooting might break blue Loc-Tite down. Blue breaks down at about 300 degrees, but red not until 500 degrees.

I use blue Loc-Tite (242) on screws holding a base to an action, because even properly torqued screws CAN shoot loose in high-volume shooting, and there is no way to check them without removing the rings. I stick with the factory-specified 6-48 screws, and with good installation surface prep and blue LT you can easily twist off a screw head or ruin your tool if you don't apply heat first. Usually 3-5 minutes of a torch-heated nail makes for easy extraction of the screw. That is with blue. If someone used red it will take twice that long. The nail glows bright red where the torch hits it, but it stops glowing before it gets to the screw. But still, I am transferring a LOT more heat than you get out of a soldering iron.

With good surface prep and a well shaken bottle of LT, there is no reason to use red on base screws -- blue is MORE than strong enough, and is a LOT easier to melt when you need to remove that base later.

I usually use nothing on ring clamps and caps, because it is so easy to check them to verify, and I want to be able to snug them up without worrying about breaking the LT bond. But I at times use purple Loc-Tite (222) on cap screws. It does not really set up the way blue and other LT's do -- it just turns into a very thick crud that helps screws resist vibrating out from recoil. It is also re-usable for at least a couple of times. Screws installed with purple can be snugged up, because there is not really any bond to break the way there is with blue.

Neat stuff, but you need to know what you are doing if you are going to use anything other than purple.

If it isn't the high temperature red Loctite, it shouldn't take any more heat than blue. High temperature lists a max working temp of 450, whereas blue and non-high temperature red are 300.

This is why I prefer to use the numbers (242 is blue, 262 is red, etc.). Loc-Tite makes about 50 different formulations.

But I have never run into a "low temperature red Loc-Tite" in any store. It may well exist, but if it does it is not common.

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us...og/difference-between-threadlockers.html

Loctite red or blue is not needed. Degrease only . Never used it and never had a problem even on my heaviest recoiling guns.

Guess it depends on where you're shopping. The closest NAPA has 271 in stock, but not 272.

And where did I say anything about low temperature?

Never used any Loctite. Just degreased and torqued to specified inch lbs. Never had any issues with loosening doing this.

orange here

By "low" I just meant "not high" -- 300 degrees as opposed to 450 degrees. However, thanks to this discussion I now realize that 271, while "red" and having a higher torque-break strength than 242 (blue), has the same temperature resistance as 242 (300 degrees).

For some applications I want a higher heat resistance than you get with 242 (300 degrees), so I will have to be careful when I go to replace my bottle of 272, not to buy 271. 272 goes up to 450-500 degrees.

I must be in the minority as I have used red loctite many times on bases and rings with nary a problem. I degrease all the threads, and put just a small amount on the threads.

Have never had anything come loose and never had an issue removing them if needed.

I use the purple (t222) on both bases and mounts. Never had a problem with anything coming lose or not being able to remove the screws if needed. I feel it does help to secure the screws.

I like "Pliobond" rubber cement.nA dab on the threads protects against any vibration induced loosening and removal is non traumatic. It approximates the screws having polymer sections in the threaded shank of the screw.

Good stuff to use on heavy duty fishing knots.

I have a 6mm Remington Classic that someone put red locktite on the fill-in screws that replaced the sights.

BUT THE WORST!!!! I had a scope that came on a rifle I bought on-line. The idiot put red locktite on the scope adjustment caps.

I believe that if a person is buying red locktite or WD-40 for their guns, they should never be allowed to own guns due to basic stupidity. They are just too stupid and likely voted for Biden.

Red is fine for scope bases. A needle point torch makes it easy to remove?

I use a soldering iron with a fine point applied directly to the fasteners. Loosens most adhesives/thread locking agents right up without making things around them too warm; some scopes use a lot of nylon and plastic parts internally. Acetone will usually help remove any adhesive remaining on the parts.

have used the blue loctite for 30 yrs.never had a issue.just works.

I never used red on guns, but I buy a lot of used guns, so run across it here and there.

I use nail polish mostly. I like the thicker consistency.

I never used red on guns, but I buy a lot of used guns, so run across it here and there.

I use nail polish mostly. I like the thicker consistency.

A soldering iron works relatively quickly as well as being able to concentrate the heat on a very small area (screw head).

I use Blue 242, says removeable thread locker, it comes in a red squeezer tube, go figure. I only use it on scope bases and rarely have a need to remove bases, when I do, no problem.

Long ago Red Loctite taught me to read directions!