Hi Capa front sight and glue

[emilianoksa]

I've had a couple of Airsoft Masterpiece slides for my hi capas.

Hi capa front sights are a friction fit and the TM front sights were a tight fit on both of them, and required quite a lot of tapping with a brass hammer.

However my latest slide from AM is a loose fit and I am not sure whether to glue it or shim it.

If I decided to glue it, which product would you recommend? Would an epoxy glue hold it for long given the blowback? 

If I were to shim it, how would you advise me to do it? And with what material?

 

[frontsight]

Get a small tube of Loctite blue (NOT red) threadlocker. It comes quite handy for a variety of purposes including setting sights.

Clean the sight notch and the sight, put a tiny dab of loctite, install the sight and then let it sit for 24 hours. you can set the slide upside down on the sights to apply some pressure.

Once it sets in it's almost permanent. To remove you just need to heat it for a bit using a hair dryer and tap it out.

Superglue is ok, but loctite seems to have better longevity and resistance to impact.

 

[emilianoksa]

Thanks for the reply.

I am surprised that a thread locker would have the strength to hold the sight. 

I thought Loctite thread lockers were designed only for screws.

 

[frontsight]

Yeah loctite is pretty amazing stuff! Don't use it on really small screws with small screwheads (don't ask me how I know?‍).

But I use it on all my 1911 / hi capa metal slides with loose sights.

As loctite cures it expands a bit and sort of fills in the gaps. It's somewhat "flexible" too, so stands up to impacts a lot better than glue.

This is a guarder slide and AM sight, you can see the gap the tolerances are quite loose. With the loctite method I can't get it out if I tried

View attachment 90738

 

[emilianoksa]

Thanks again.

 

[Floperator]

The above is good advice. If I was going to shim it, I'd do what I've done in the past and use a thin strip of drink can or feeler gauge cut to size. If you can get something like that in there as well as loctite you should be golden.

Also do triple check exactly which loctite product you're buying and what the specs are, they sell loads of different grades of  threadlock and surface bonders (perhaps better for this application?), both at varying strengths, and the strong ones are...really fucking strong. Too strong.

 

[Steveocee]

I have given up buying anything other than CowCow T1 front sights now. They are by design a slightly loose fit but have 2 grub screws you can crank down once it's in place (with threadlick on grubs of course) and this problem is removed.

The CowCow sight also has a brushed "top" which aids reflecting light back into the fibre.

 

[frontsight]

Don't forget to show off some pics when you're done!

Also, do the AM hi capa slides come with a notch inside the slide for a 1911 style barrel bushing? Been contemplating buying one for a while..

 

[emilianoksa]

I'll have a look when I get back home and check for the notch.

Is the Loctite 243 variant OK for the front sight job? 

https://www.bearing-king.co.uk/bearing/loctite-243-medium-strength-oil-tolerant-10ml/5721?gclid=Cj0KCQjwvqeUBhCBARIsAOdt45bC5PmAQKY-h8IDLaSNKm1iw3fnV5sxrzP8TRflCH2xD6NTjCSPXdUaAnKwEALw_wcB

 

[frontsight]

Yes! I use 242 but 243 seems to be pretty much the same strength but just with better oil tolerance.

 

[emilianoksa]

Many thanks.

 

[emilianoksa]

Don't forget to show off some pics when you're done!

Also, do the AM hi capa slides come with a notch inside the slide for a 1911 style barrel bushing? Been contemplating buying one for a while..

 Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I forgot. I don't know if all Airsoft Masterpiece hi capa slides have the notch, but the Springfield Armory one certainly does.

 

[frontsight]

No worries man, thanks for confirming! That's great that the bureau model slides have bushing notches. Will keep note of that for future builds?