Found a weird fix for a loose scope mount last week

I had this old hunting rifle come in with a scope mount that wouldn't stay tight, no matter how much I torqued it. On a whim, I cleaned the threads and put a tiny bit of clear nail polish on them before screwing it back together, and it's held solid for months now. Do you folks use anything similar for temporary thread locking, or is there a proper gunsmith solution I'm missing?

3 comments

3 Comments

mary1371mo ago

That nail polish trick works in a pinch for small stuff. Blue Loctite 242 is the go-to for permanent but removable hold on scope rings though.

drew2331mo ago

At my uncle's cabin last fall, his friend tried the nail polish trick on a .308 scope mount. By the end of the day, that scope was so loose you could turn it by hand. He learned the hard way that blue Loctite isn't just for people who read instructions. I still give him grief about it every time we sight in a rifle.

bettyhunt1mo agoMost Upvoted

Used to think nail polish was fine too until I heard about drew233's buddy with the .308. Now I just use blue Loctite like everyone says, it's made for this stuff.