Front sight keeps loosening

[ROCK-IT3]

I recently picked up a Taurus G3c from a forum member (Thanks MDII), and first off, it seems like a great pistol so far. Not much bigger than my PT709 Slim, but with 12 rounds of 9mm. Fits my hand nicely, seems pretty accurate, good trigger and reset, and with over 300 rounds through it so far, not a single stoppage of any sort. The one issue I am having is the front sight keeps loosening. On the first outing, I noticed it was loose after about 100 rounds. It is a Glock-compatible sight, so it has a small hex cap screw through the inside if the slide into the sight post. I tightened it as best as I could at the range, but after a few more magazines it was loose again, so I packed up and came home.

I put some blue loctite on it, but as I tightened the screw, the head snapped off. I called Taurus customer service the next day, explained the situation, and even though I am not the first owner, they sent a new front sight and screw out, no charge. Thanks Taurus. I received the screw in two or three days, and immediately installed it with blue loctite, and was extremely careful about not overtightening. First trip to the range after the new sight, I put 144 rounds through (12 12 round mags), and the sight stayed tight. Yesterday, I put 72 more rounds through, but when I finished, the sight was loose again. I did shoot all 72 in a short time, so the barrel and slide did get warm.

So, how do you people who own Glocks or other pistols with the same kind of screw-on front sight get them to stay tight? Red loctite? Tighten to a certain torque? I am worried about overtightening because the low-head hex socket cap screw has VERY little meat where the shank connects to the head, due to the hex socket size. What's the deal? Help me out here, I really like the pistol so far, and intend to replace the 709 with it, but don't want to deal with a loose front sight every range trip, or forget about it have it not shoot where I am aiming in an emergency.

[red dog]

Next time buy a Glock, my sights don*t come loose. Sorry I had to say it. Just bustin on you. I use blue locktite when I change out sights. Make sure you give it some time to cure. I not only put it on the threads I let it flow around the post and under the sight itself. Wipe off the extra before it starts to set. Hope this helps.

[zachomega]

I had a similar issue with a Ruger mark iii.

Firstly, most (not all) loctite won't work if there is grease or oil present.

Blue loctite is good, but it has a relatively low temperature before it basically cooks off.

I ended up using red 271 (or 277) on my Ruger.

More recently, I've used red 263. It is oil tolerant and the temperature is lower than the other red loctite. 360 degrees which is still very high.

You could also use green 680 if you never want to remove it again.

The key is to remove all of the oil and grease (mineral spirits, acetone, and brake cleaner are all good at this). Be warned that some of those things can damage finish or plastics. So do your research and test accordingly.

If you know you will never take it off, just go to red 263.

-Zach

[Noah_Zark]

Not picking on Red Dog, but using his post as an example and teaching moment:

. . . I use blue locktite when I change out sights. Make sure you give it some time to cure.

Even more importantly, prior to applying the blue Loctite, use acetone or MEK and clean Q-tips to THOROUGHLY degrease the screw and female threads with repeated applications allowing the solvent to flash dry each time. When the Q-tips come away clean, proceed. Note well: If there's the least film of oil on the threads, Loctite don't lock tight.

. . . I not only put it on the threads I let it flow around the post and under the sight itself. Wipe off the extra before it starts to set. Hope this helps.

Most Loctite threadlockers are anaerobically cured, meaning that they cure in the absence of air. The material won't cure in the presence of air, or won't fully cure and develop full strength and solidity. You may be seeing some benefit from an airless film of threadlocker between the barrel and sight, but the real work is being done between the male and female threads, providing those threads are thoroughly degreased first as above.

Noah

[ROCK-IT3]

Next time buy a Glock, my sights don*t come loose. Sorry I had to say it. Just bustin on you. I use blue locktite when I change out sights. Make sure you give it some time to cure. I not only put it on the threads I let it flow around the post and under the sight itself. Wipe off the extra before it starts to set. Hope this helps.

Yeah, I figured there might be some Taurus bashing, but I have had two others that have been completely fine. Maybe I didn't leave it cure long enough when
I first installed the new sight, or maybe the loctite I have is no longer effective. It is probably 10 years old, I wonder if it loses effectiveness. I'll probably shoot it again next week, so that will be a full week of cure time.

[zachomega]

Yeah, I figured there might be some Taurus bashing, but I have had two others that have been completely fine. Maybe I didn't leave it cure long enough when
I first installed the new sight, or maybe the loctite I have is no longer effective. It is probably 10 years old, I wonder if it loses effectiveness. I'll probably shoot it again next week, so that will be a full week of cure time.

Loctite typically doesn't take as long to cure as people think it does. It takes even less if you use their primer.

It has expiration dates on the bottles. I imagine it will hold up for a little while, but 10 years is pushing it.

Find somebody local who has a bottle. I'm sure they'll be happy to let you have a few drops. Even the smallest bottles are too large unless you work in an industrial environment. And loctite isn't cheap.

-Zach

[red dog]

The bashing was in humor,. I own several Taurus handguns myself. I will admit mine are all revolvers. As far as cleaning all the surfaces in question I did omit that step as I consider that a given. Noah zark is very knowledgeable And what he says is probably correct on how thread lockers work. That being said I*m just saying what has and still works for myself. As far as the more permanent lockers why do it if it*s not needed?

[ROCK-IT3]

The bashing was in humor,. I own several Taurus handguns myself. I will admit mine are all revolvers. As far as cleaning all the surfaces in question I did omit that step as I consider that a given. Noah zark is very knowledgeable And what he says is probably correct on how thread lockers work. That being said I*m just saying what has and still works for myself. As far as the more permanent lockers why do it if it*s not needed?

Haha, I know the bashing was in jest. No offense taken.

Thanks to all for the good advice on using loctite properly. I have acetone, I will re-do the process and make sure to clean and degrease everything well.

[bigandy1966]

Sight it in and LOCKTITE BLACK MAX

[philadelphia patriot]

I installed a lot of Glock front sights and used blue loctite. I never had any issues with those sights coming loose.