Installing a red dot mount

[eskimo36]

I’m a little leery of one screw mounts for the fastfire type mounts on heavy recoil (454)revolvers. What could I add to one of the mounts on the front of the mount on a stainless gun to add security What will let go with a little heat later on? Bedding compound? Two part epoxy? Suggestions?

Curtis

[bradshaw]

Nov 5, 2019 12:14:16 GMT -5 eskimo36 said:

I’m a little leery of one screw mounts for the fastfire type mounts on heavy recoil (454)revolvers. What could I add to one of the mounts on the front of the mount on a stainless gun to add security What will let go with a little heat later on? Bedding compound? Two part epoxy? Suggestions?

Curtis

*****

Curtis.... good question. If the parts mate closely, Loctite 380 should hold. If gaposis is present, epoxy might be better. I was turned on to Loctite 380 by gunsmith Mike Brazda in Louisiana, and it is strong. Last time I swapped front sights on . 357 Maximum, I painted silver fingernail polish under the Ruger front sight. It took several applications of the butane lighter and help of a plastic hammer to remove it. Which tells me that silver fingernail polish makes for a much stronger glue than other colors. Reckon silver pigment reinforces the lacquer, leastwise that silver pigment.

I would check matchup; if good, try Loctite 380. As with all things glue, preparation is critical. I use acetone to clean surfaces. Don’t worry about roughing the surfaces, just clean like fury.
David Bradshaw

[seminolewind]

I have MRDS on several revolvers including a 454 BFR, 45 Colt Blackhawk and 357 Maximum Ruger. One thing I've done to make the one-screw mounts work is to replace the factory screw with one long enough to engage every thread of the screw. Some factory screws only engage 2-3 threads, so I trim a new screw to go flush with the bottom of the topstrap. Red loctite is applied to the bottom of the mount and to the screw. The BFR has 586 rounds of full 454 loads so far with no problems.

[98redline]

Not exactly apples to apples but I have a 5 1/2" 44mag Redhawk that wears a MRDS on top of an EGW plate that replaces the rear sight. It has held on just fine and has seen at least a few hundred full power 44mag loads.

[dhd]

Been there.

I started with the Raptor Engineering mount and while good, had a little wobble. Not good enough, so I did some measuring and cut some shim stock out of aluminum cans (very small pieces as there's not much space involved) and 2 parted them to the mounts sides. I got a tight fit into the rear sight cut out and then put some blue locktite on the screw. No wobble and you can't see the "work" done on the mount and nothing was done the revolver.

Being anal about mounting optics, my shooting partner welded some aluminum to the front of the mount boss and after some quick filing and drilling a hole from both sides through the rear sight pin hole, the mount is now held on by the original pin and the screw. Once you have a plan (and the equipment) in place, it takes very little time to do the above. Less time than the shimming experiment anyway.

Like many here, I love the versatility of a red dot, but don't trust just the small screw holding the mount/red dot on a heavy kicking revolver.

Apples and oranges, but the flat top Raptor Engineering mount bas barely enough metal to drill the hole for the pin already. The standard BH will need the attention of a TIG welder.

The above may be more trouble than it's worth, but I do like how small and unobtrusive the RE mount is. We've done this work to 3 of the mounts so far and it is solid.

One example is a 4 5/8" Super BH with 22.5 grains of H110 and a 290 grain LFNGC style bullet. Couple hundred rounds through it and the mount and RMR couldn't care less. This is a pretty wicked revolver shooting that load, but it sure does like to get those bullets close together so it's worth it.

[edk]

Why the obsession with no-drill mounts? Even if they do "work", It seems a no-brainer that considerable margin would be afforded with the addition of a second screw.

[seminolewind]

Nov 11, 2019 7:19:11 GMT -5 edk said:

Why the obsession with no-drill mounts?

I would d&t a second hole if I thought it was necessary. So far I don't. And, there is no way I'm going to d&t a Ruger 357 Maximum.

[edk]

I get the not wanting to drill and tap a firearm of historic significance, but a plain vanilla Ruger is another matter.

[foxtrapper]

Been using the “weigatinny” mount on my Bisley 510gnr with great success! One screw .theres a recoil lug on the mount that takes the pressure of the shot. I did give the mating surface a dollop of red Loctite.