Blue loctite not drying

[rc51kid]

This isnt a problem i am having on my LC. But i figure you guys here should know the answer.

Recently i removed some small screws holding on a scope and scope base on a hunting rifle. It was strange but the blue loctite wasnt dry. It had been assembled about a week ago. I always degrees and clean all the screws with alcohol or breakclean. Always use a in/lb torque wrench. Things never come loose for me but it is strange that the loctite was still wet. Also when disassembling i didnt get that nice "snap" i am used to when you break free the loctite.

Is it possible that i am using too much loctite? Or could the bottle being old mess it up?

 

[peesalot]

I have had that happen with old tube as well, like it separates and doesn't work. I would think maybe the gun oil leached back out of metal even after degrease & clean possibly. Try cleaning & drying, torquing it, and see if the tightening squeezes any oil up, just a thought.

 

[Malleus]

Oily surface

 

[rc51kid]

I have had that happen with old tube as well, like it separates and doesn't work. I would think maybe the gun oil leached back out of metal even after degrease & clean possibly. Try cleaning & drying, torquing it, and see if the tightening squeezes any oil up, just a thought.

It is a old tube. I have always used to liquid. Have you used to "sticks", paste type? Maybe i will try some of that and do a REALLY good degree

I also thought of it being a old tube or something. I do feel like it is watery. A few times that i get a drop or two on a my work surface i remember it not having that perfect uniform blue color. Kind of strange.

 

[rc51kid]

Oily surface

I thought i cleaned it well but will do a over the top cleaning next time.

The strange thing is i did a good job degreasing. Soaked the parts in brake clean then ran a q tip down the thread holes.

But i will say when i disassembled it not only waa the blue loctite wet (blue color on my fingers from the screws) but there was some thin liquid between some of the mating surfaces. It was between the top of the receiver and the scope base. Just a thin film of liquid. I dont think it was loctite. I think it was a film of oil. Kind of odd. Maybe i will just have to be more aggressive about decreasing. I could also try a little heat from the heat gun during the process. Not much, just get the parts warm. Sometimes i have found tht helps the solvents dry and helps pull some of the oil out.

My go too for years has just been plain old rubbing alcohol for small screws. This time i used breakclean. Maybe i need to try acetone?

 

[Mauser]

It is a old tube. I have always used to liquid. Have you used to "sticks", paste type? Maybe i will try some of that and do a REALLY good degree

I only use the stick kind on my firearm stuff anymore. The best part about it is that you can put it on the screws you need it on all at once then put the screws in. Also, the best degreaser I have found is the aerosol parts cleaner from Walmart. Not brake cleaner.

 

[rc51kid]

Thanks guys. Its funny, this is a "firearms" question but i would rather ask the mud group than the firearms guys i know. I have been using loctite for 40 years on things. This was all kind of strange. I finally realized what was going on just a few nights ago when i was changing scope bases around. But in hindsight it has been a problem for a while. This summer i started getting about 2" groups with my .22. That rifle ALWAYS shoot dime sized groups. I knew right away something wasnt right. Sure enough, scope mounts had gotten loose. I didnt think too much of it becouse that rifle gets beat to hell ridding around in the truck and killing gophers and beer cans every weekend. I haven't touched the scope mounts in 5 years. So i didnt think much of it. But now, in hindsight i it was probably part of the problem.

 

[Malleus]

Metal, despite its looks, is very porous. The only way to definitively degrease metal is acid. You really don't want to go soaking your pistol or rifle parts in hydrochloric acid, though.

I'm not going to be any help with adhesives on firearms; I'm from a camp that always broke everything down regularly. We never glued anything together.

 

[aztoyman]

Try Loctite 7649 primer.