LCR issue

[kelljor]

Had an issue today with a newish LCRX. Had it maybe 2 months, fired about 2-3 boxes of ammo, mostly wadcutters. Today at the range I ran about half a box of Critical Defense Lite in addition to the normal box of wadcutters, somewhere toward the end the cylinder wouldn't open all the way. With a little study, I noted the screw at the front of the frame had backed out a bit and the metal to plastic junction had a little gap. Screwed the screw back in, honked down on it pretty good, and fired another 20 rounds, which was all I had left. No problems. The little gap is gone, back to where it was, and the cylinder opens like it should.
Question is has anyone else had this problem, and did it take more than I did to effect a permanent fix. I was thinking a little loc tite, but before I rip into it I want some other opinions.
Thanks in advance.

 

[hittman]

What caliber is it?
Never had a problem with my 38.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[pisgah]

Why are folks always surprised that screws will loosen on any mechanical device that is furnished with them? Whether a gun, a car, a motorcycle, a drum set -- if it is a machine put together with screws, the screws can and likely will eventually work loose. My standard maintenance routine on any screw-assembled gun is to check screw tightness at regular intervals.

 

[kelljor]

What caliber is it?
Never had a problem with my 38.

Welcome to the forum.

38. I am thinking that the Critical Defense might have a little extra pressure over the wadcutters; they felt a little hotter. I had been shooting wadcutters exclusively until now, and have not checked the screw. I had forgotten I had a Smith and the side plate screws would loosen up until I put lock tight on them. Until I did the loc tite thing I had to tighten the screw after shooting sessions. Just wondering if anyone had experienced the same thing I did with the LCR.

 

[kelljor]

Why are folks always surprised that screws will loosen on any mechanical device that is furnished with them? Whether a gun, a car, a motorcycle, a drum set -- if it is a machine put together with screws, the screws can and likely will eventually work loose. My standard maintenance routine on any screw-assembled gun is to check screw tightness at regular intervals.

not really a surprise......I am a half assed mechanic myself so it's not new to me. It has just been quite a while since any screw had worked loose on any of my guns so it wasn't in the forefront of my mind. I was simply wondering if anybody had dealt with the same problem is all, and what they did. Who knows, maybe someone has an idea or done something that I wouldn't have thought of. I am old, some would say elderly, but I am always learning something from someone who has been there. Never too old to learn something new from someone with more experience. I also made another post that I had to tighten the side plate screws on a snubby smith, prob went away after judicious use of loc tite, and it's been so long that I had forgotten that.

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!

I haven't had a LCR apart or anything,, but a little trick I learned long ago,, AND often promoted by our dearly departed FlatGate,, was to pull a screw,, add a piece of monofilament fishing line in the hole,, then replace the screw. Burn off the tail that sticks out.
If possible,, try that trick!

 

[kelljor]

Haven't heard of that one. Thanks!

 

[JimmyB62]

Welcome to the Forum!

I haven't had a LCR apart or anything,, but a little trick I learned long ago,, AND often promoted by our dearly departed FlatGate,, was to pull a screw,, add a piece of monofilament fishing line in the hole,, then replace the screw. Burn off the tail that sticks out.
If possible,, try that trick!

Just curious what the reason is for this method over a commercial thread locking compound?

 

[DutchV]

Just curious what the reason is for this method over a commercial thread locking compound?

Using fishing line will keep LocTite from running into places you don't want it. And it works great as a thread locker.

 

[bowzette]

There are recommended torque settings for that screw and the one in the grip. I think you can find it on the website. It is in the manual. Ruger recommends checking the torque at certain amount of rounds shot.

 

[arfmel]

I remember the old days when Ruger used and advertised Nyloc screws in their revolvers. The monofilament trick is similar, and won’t result in a screw head getting boogered up in removal, like can sometimes happen with the use of the wrong type of thread locking compound.

 

[contender]

DutchV nailed the reasoning!

 

[thedogdidit]

Welcome to the Forum!

I haven't had a LCR apart or anything,, but a little trick I learned long ago,, AND often promoted by our dearly departed FlatGate,, was to pull a screw,, add a piece of monofilament fishing line in the hole,, then replace the screw. Burn off the tail that sticks out.
If possible,, try that trick!

I haven't heard this in decades. I forgot all about this. Thank you for the reminder!!

 

[Sam Summey]

Just curious what the reason is for this method over a commercial thread locking compound?

It is not a Rosie O'Donnell to get back apart if need be. Being a "gunsmith" I get firearms in that have been bathed in blue Locktite, sometime even RED. If a touch is good a bunch is better or so folks think. When my boys were avid archers I installed their points and blades with a purple "mechanics" removable Locktite, as much as they shot the tips never came loose.

 

[JMD101]

 

[Toxophilus]

@kelljor , I had this happen to my LCRx at about 1.5k rounds, just tightened it up & it's been fine though it is something I check when I clean it after practicing with it...