I have a recently manufactured stainless 10/22 (model 1256) with the black plastic stock. I have noticed that the stock screw that screws into the receiver comes loose after shooting ~50 rounds. I have both torqued the factory screw to 15 in-lbs as well as used the newly acquired thumb screw. Both come loose after shooting. Is this something that others have experienced? I have contemplated using something like fingernail polish to prevent the screw loosening. However, I take it apart every ~500 rounds for cleaning.
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hunt127588
Either your mounting screw is slightly smaller or may be stripped. Does it tighten, when you install the screw, or just gets loose after firing it several times?
Not if the screw is bottoming out in the hole. Check that first, then torque and then thread locker.
As mentioned it may be bottoming out as screw is a hair too long. I would try a little blue Loctite first and see how it does. You can still disassemble after 500 rounds no sweat. That little bit of Loctite should stay on for 2 or 3 cleanings then wipe it off with some bore cleaner dry and reapply. A little on the threads will go a long way. Conversely if it is a bit too long the little star or lock washer should work fine. I run mine at about 15 inch# no problems. Whatever works.
before you go and add anything like loctite or other thread lockers...thoroghly degrease the threads on both the screw and the receiver (with isopropyl alcohol), and torque the screw to 12 inch pounds and see if it will hold your torque with clean, dry threads
None of my 10/22 manuals mention torque specs at all (see below). The only “official” torques I am aware of are the values recommended by various stock makers - which seem to vary from 12 to 45 in-lbs. Personally I normally use 25 in-lbs, but that’s just what works for me.
My Sporter groups best at 12 lbs and the screw doesn’t come loose. My buddy runs his at 15. Again no problems with a loose screw.
Since both are walking out I would suspect the threaded hole is oversize. If you have a go/no-go thread gage it might show the hole is oversize. Not much can be done with that other than maybe use a couple of wraps of some teflon thread tape on the screw.
There are other simple ways to confirm a screw is bottoming out. I can usually tell just by the way it torques up, but wood density and compressibility can vary. So, tighten your screw to your favorite setting and make a witness mark with a Sharpie on the screw head and on the escutcheon at say 12 o'clock. Remove the screw, grind or file off about a 1/4 thread and reinsert and tighten. If the witness mark on the screw head rotates past the mark on the escutcheon with the same torque value, probably by about a 1/4 turn, you know you are/were bottoming out. Another simple check is dropping a small lead ball, like bird shot, or the very fine shot used in .22 shot shells, into the hole. Tighten and look for the smashed lead ball. This will also tell you how much to remove from the screw. Thin lead wire will also work well, if you have some. The lead wire is the gunsmith standard used for determining the precise amount of headspace in a chamber when a go-gauge "goes" Close the bolt on the wire behind the gauge and measure the resulting thickness.
Since both screws exhibit the same behavior, I personally feel it's much more likely that either the hole is shallow, or the wood and/or escutcheon is compressed or too short. If shortening both screws fails, then thread locker is warranted. Unless you have removed and replaced that action screw 100s of times, I doubt the hole is oversized. The screw will also have a distinct loosey-goosey feel when screwing it in. IF it is oversized, though, any machine shop can make a slightly oversized screw on a lathe, but don't even think about going there yet.
My two cents...probably worth less than that.
Since both screws exhibit the same behavior, I personally feel it's much more likely that either the hole is shallow, or the wood and/or escutcheon is compressed or too short. If shortening both screws fails, then thread locker is warranted. Unless you have removed and replaced that action screw 100s of times, I doubt the hole is oversized. The screw will also have a distinct loosey-goosey feel when screwing it in. IF it is oversized, though, any machine shop can make a slightly oversized screw on a lathe, but don't even think about going there yet.
My two cents...probably worth less than that.
One other thing. From the "whatever it's worth" department, I've only had one 10/22-style rifle action screw ever shoot loose. It was actually a VQ semiauto in 17 WSM. Now that thing exhibited some serious inertia and jarring and would loosen the single action screw in about 25 rounds. Sure enough, it was the screw bottoming out inside the blind receiver hole, probably from the laminated wood compressing (the top of the escutcheon had sunk well below the stock surface). I ended up removing two full threads from the screw until it stopped bottoming out. Never shot loose again, and I simply torqued it to about 25-30...no thread locker, no gorilla torqueing. Surely, VQ should have used two action screws in that massive 10/22.
No Way do I want to torque that steel screw into That SOFT Alum thread over 20ip in the soft factory stock. (a steel receiver in a pillar bedded stock is another matter).
Once it strips out your complications begin......and you Will be Very Unhappy with yourself.
Ive never had one go loose/back out at even 12ip.
Once it strips out your complications begin......and you Will be Very Unhappy with yourself.
Ive never had one go loose/back out at even 12ip.
Screws hold due to slight flexing when torqued. That flex enables the screw to hold stronger over time. In applications where hold is very important, a lubricant, often called dope, allows the threads to turn freely and thereby provide maximum flex, and therefore maximum hold. Without some kind of lubricant, resulting friction in the threads can partially limit the free torqueing and flexing of the screw, sometimes even galling threads.
Perhaps too much information, and this may be overkill on a 10/22, but dry threads are usually not good. Yes, we use completely dry threads when using thread lockers, but they provide temporary lubrication when torqueing, then they obviously lock the flexed threads in place when cured.
Oil used to prevent corrosion is a separate issue, but I've never had any corrosion issues with 10/22 threads. When I built the brass 10/22, someone here was very concerned that the brass receiver would lead to terrible deterioration from dissimilar metals corrosion. While this is theoretically possible with brass/aluminum, steel/aluminum, aluminum/stainless steel connections, as a practical matter, I never saw any evidence of cathodic/galvanic corrosion in the brass rifle. Immersion in salt water, or other electrolyte other than air, would likely produce very undesirable results.
Sorry, kinda went down a rabbit hole on that one
Perhaps too much information, and this may be overkill on a 10/22, but dry threads are usually not good. Yes, we use completely dry threads when using thread lockers, but they provide temporary lubrication when torqueing, then they obviously lock the flexed threads in place when cured.
Oil used to prevent corrosion is a separate issue, but I've never had any corrosion issues with 10/22 threads. When I built the brass 10/22, someone here was very concerned that the brass receiver would lead to terrible deterioration from dissimilar metals corrosion. While this is theoretically possible with brass/aluminum, steel/aluminum, aluminum/stainless steel connections, as a practical matter, I never saw any evidence of cathodic/galvanic corrosion in the brass rifle. Immersion in salt water, or other electrolyte other than air, would likely produce very undesirable results.
Sorry, kinda went down a rabbit hole on that one
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