Threadlocking Optilock Mounts?

[csl]

I was just pulling a boresnake through my .243 with a view to taking it out tomorrow and I had the rifle and scope between my knees supporting with one hand when I felt an almost imperceptible wobble somewhere

I thought I'd dreamt it because I tried wobbling everything and couldn't replicate it until finally I felt it again - something to do with the scope.

Well that was it, off it came and I found that the screw holding the two halves of the front Optilock together was pretty much finger tight and the rear wasn't exactly tight either!

Now I remember assembling them two years ago and cranking them up as much as I dared so it was a little shocking to find them so loose. Maybe the high temperatures recently has contributed, who knows!

Amazingly it has held zero just fine up to now with no signs of problems! Looks like the poor .243 is staying in the cabinet in favour of the .30-06 again tomorrow....

Anyway, does anyone recommend re-assembling the mounts with loctite or something? Or should I just crank them up tighter still? It is possible I was a little conservative with the torque before I suppose.



cheers,

Alex

 

[devilishdave]

I would use loctite as a mater of course when mounting scopes.

Dave

 

[ejg]

I think the plastic rings are nylon. Nylon can take up water and increase in size...or dry and shrink. This could lead to screws loosening. I boiled my rings in water before slipping em over the scope because I was worried they could crack. Hi water content in nylon makes em softer and not as brittle. Even so I never had any optilock come loose, neither 1" nor 30mm. What is generally a good idea is to check all screws prior to the usual zero check.
Also action screws.
edi

 

[calmac]

same used to happen to me quite often, i never lost zero but that magic blue liquid thread lock did the trick, must be all this heat then putting rifle back in cabnet cooled set up down causing wee grub screws to work loose... its cheep as chips in modeling shops

 

[csl]

Thanks guys

I think the plastic rings are nylon. Nylon can take up water and increase in size...or dry and shrink. This could lead to screws loosening. I boiled my rings in water before slipping em over the scope because I was worried they could crack. Hi water content in nylon makes em softer and not as brittle. Even so I never had any optilock come loose, neither 1" nor 30mm. What is generally a good idea is to check all screws prior to the usual zero check.
Also action screws.
edi

Sorry, I should have been a bit clearer, what I meant to say was it was the single screw holding the base to the ring. You can't get at the screw because it goes through the base up into the ring from underneath so the only way to tighten it is to take the whole scope off!

 

[KevinF]

Locktite the bolt joining rings to base, always. They come loose otherwise - as you have discovered.

 

[devilishdave]

Loctite 241 or 242 (the blue stuff) will do the job but depending how hot you get your rifle it may degrade. Loctite 620 is the best stuff to use in areas that are susceptable to heat.

Dave

 

[csl]

Many thanks!

 

[Dovebob]

CSL,

We had a rifle maintenance seminar at our rifle club a couple of weeks back. The guest speaker was Mike Norris from Brock and Norris. Mike discussed this very issue and advocated the use of loctite. I think he suggested using (I think) 243 (which he said was easy to remember) but I was sat at the back so I might have misheard.

It was a brilliant seminar. I am a novice who was just about to buy a first rifle and I learnt loads. I'd encourage anyone who gets the chance to go to such an event - really interesting.

Cheers,

Bob