Encore repair

[Wayne Smith]

I was shooting my 25 Kraig AI barrel and on the next to last shot the action would open half way and come to a hard stop. Took it home and apart and the screw that holds the firing pin assembly (above the hammer) was loose, allowing the whole assembly to slide forward and stop the opening of the action. I did, years ago, replace the firing pin. To access that screw one needs to take the top of the hammer off, and then it's an angle to get to it.

It is together and working now - but one question - is there any reason for me not to take it apart again, clean that screw, and put some Loctite on it?

Oh, btw, while I was looking at all that I discovered the screw above the trigger was also very loose - almost came out. Same question for that one.

[NSB]

If it came loose, it won’t hurt a thing to put some blue Loctite on it to keep it from coming loose again. It’s not really a repair, it’s just maintenance. FWIW, that’s something that should be done once in a while as routine cleaning and maintenance.

[Wayne Smith]

My point is that it came loose after years of pretty continuous use. It's obviously not needed, I just wanted to know if there is a reason not to use a sealer. Not a permanent one of course - I may need to change out the firing pin again.

[Willbird]

I look at loctite as being a locker and a protect ant for the threaded connection both. If it does not need to be strongly locked IMHO just use a weaker grade.

[NSB]

Blue LocTite isn’t considered a glue or epoxy. It’s purpose is to prevent screws from coming loose due to vibration. Lots of people seem confused by this concept. If the screw can’t turn, it won’t come out. The threads are engaged and hold the screw in place. If there’s a bit of loctite on the threads they won’t vibrate loose. It also doesn’t hurt anything unless you use a sealer that gets hard and requires heat to allow it to be turned to remove. Blue doesn’t require any heat, red does require some…not much, but some.

[stubshaft]

I would take it apart and put locktite on it. It would give me piece of mind.

[Wayne Smith]

I got one of Mike's emails, so I replied with my question. This is Mike Bellm's response.

"Blue thread locker ok, but the main thing is make sure the recess in the frame is clean, no debris, torque the screw tightly, then use a brass punch to give the firing pin bushing a hard smack to seat the firing pin bushing, take tension off the screw some & retighten it.
;-)"

I don't remember the instructions for the firing pin including a good wack with a brass punch! Maybe that's my problem.

[Willbird]

Blue LocTite isn’t considered a glue or epoxy. It’s purpose is to prevent screws from coming loose due to vibration. Lots of people seem confused by this concept. If the screw can’t turn, it won’t come out. The threads are engaged and hold the screw in place. If there’s a bit of loctite on the threads they won’t vibrate loose. It also doesn’t hurt anything unless you use a sealer that gets hard and requires heat to allow it to be turned to remove. Blue doesn’t require any heat, red does require some…not much, but some.

There are a bazillion grades avail past our old school "blue and red" generalizations :-).

Many of them now also include a diameter range in their product description. Some are intended for sleeve applications instead of threaded applications. There is one for sleeves and bearings that in shear is actually as strong as soft solder which is pretty darn strong :-).

Bill