1911, troubleshooting, gripsWithout blue locktite, every range session resulted in slightly loose grips. I noticed it was the bushings and not the grip screws themselves, so I used blue locktite to keep the bushings in the frame of all my 1911s. With a sort of recent purchase, I notice that I need to apply locktite on the screws as well. I haven’t noticed this on other pistols, just this one. I am using Alumagrip slim grips w/ matching slim bushings and screws, so maybe that’s the difference?
Is there a bigger problem I need to worry about? Or should I just be content using locktite?
That’s a pretty common problem with Aluma grips, because they offer no compliance or ‘crush’ for the screws to stay tight (short of over-torquing). The best solution is to loctite the bushings in place, and get some thin nylon or fiber washers to put under the grip screws. If you’d like a thicker grip, as I do, you can put a piece of pond liner (like inner tube rubber, but flat) under the entirety of the grip and that will also do the trick. A more equipment intensive solution is to counterbore the back side of the grip for a nylon washer.
The slim grips could be the culprit, as the bushings may be too tall for your screws to get a good purchase against the grips.
Either way, I tend not to use loctite on bushings, but rather have them staked to the frame to prevent them from backing out.
Also, in lieu of using loctite on the screws themselves but still a preventive measure to prevent them backing out (and still allow easy removal during detail cleaning) I use #10 O-Rings. They also do a fine job of preventing the over-tightening of screws, too.
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