The gunsmith who installed the rear sight on my G19 used Loctite. Are there ways of breaking it loose other than force/pressure? Heat or cold, perhaps?
From earlier threads it appears that there's no such thing as a good inexpensive universal sight pusher, but is there a decent one if you're only working on Glocks?
I am not a gunsmith, etc. I have used a soldering iron on metal sights - placed tip of hot soldering iron on set screws or sights that were loctited, etc. and the Loctite would melt and run out. Your results may vary, etc. In the past used a brass punch for sights but moved to the modern era of some form of synthetic rod/punch.
This and maybe soaking in water. Usually, a punch has worked for me, but I'm certain an actual sight adjustment tool is what most would recommend and rightfully so. See if a buddy or forum member nearby has one?Originally Posted by ranger
#RESIST
I'd just try drifting it first, before getting too worried about the loctite.
Blue, or wicking green loctite, has never prevented me from making normal windage adjustments.
Red, or shaft retaining compound (the other green loctite), might or might not, depending on how the surface prep was originally done. If so, the fix is to apply heat -- I also favor the soldering iron method.
Last edited by Dave J; 12-03-2016 at 12:34 PM.
A lighter, carefully, will be fine. I typically use a small torch or torch a metal rod and use it like a soldering iron. It doesn't take too much.
Think for yourself. Question authority.
There should be no reason to use Loctite on the rear unless the "gunsmith" was fitting oversized sights and removed too much material.
I would soak it in hot water for a few minutes and proceed from there.
A gunsmith acquaintance of mine stressed the importance of eliminating, as much as possible, any "movement" that absorbs/deflects the energy directed toward moving the sight. He demonstrated by mounting a slide of mine I'd been fussing over to get the sights out in a firmly-fixed vise. The vise had "hard" plastic-like shims on the jaws to prevent marring of the slide. He didn't use a sight adjustment too. He used a steel drift, with one layer of masking tape over it again to prevent marring of the sights. There was no Loctite, so he applied a bit of oil to the dovetail, took a steel ball peen hammer, and gave the sight a moderate whack. It came out pretty easily. I had tried removing it with a brass punch and a small, non-anchored vise with no apparent success. He reiterated those - - - the brass punch, the non-anchored vise - - - were defeating getting the energy focused on the one thing I wanted to move - - - the sight. He did say, as orionz06 indicated, that if Loctite was used, apply a bit of heat. And a soldering iron or micro torch was best, as either concentrated the heat on the set screw and/or dovetail base, where the Loctite was.
I was told that acetone, I use nail polish remover with acetone, works really well for softening up blue Loctite. It has worked really well for me thus far.
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