I am considering installing some type of tritium replacement sights on my Shield. My concern is replacement rear sight may be loose and I do not want to use Loctite. I fear that Loctite could creep into the striker safety mechanism and tie it up.

I have considered slide staking of some kind it loose fit occurs or using center punch on edge of rear sight dovetail to make for tighter fit. Naturally some brands of sights may simply come with tight fit, but I do not know which brands.

Plus from time to time I may wish to clean inside of slide and this would require removal and reinstallation of rear sight.

Your experience and opinions on alternatives to Loctite appreciated. Thanks.

Doesn’t take much Loctite to set a screw. I wouldn’t worry about it getting in the Striker.


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You need to define " loose ".
The sight could be loose in different ways.

Depending on the situation, you could use real shim stock ( or improvise with something else ).
If an adjustment screw is loose, one drop or less of Loc-Tite 242 on the screw threads usually does the trick.
If it's a dovetail issue, you can carefully peen or stake the outside, or use a very sharp pointed punch to raise one or more burrs inside the dovdtail slot in the bottom.

The proper way to use thread locker:

1. Clean the screw with alcohol to remove any dirt or lubrication
2. Apply a small drop of thread locker to the lower middle of the screw. Help that single drop spread around the threads.
3. Let the thread locker dry for 5+ minutes.
4. Insert screw into sight.

The dried thread locker will not run/spread and it will add the necessary extra friction to keep the screw from backing out until you do it.

Your rear sight should be tight enough in the dovetail that the set screw is entirely redundant. If your rear sight is so loose in the dovetail that you need the set screw to hold it in place, get a new sight properly fitted.

Removing the rear sight frequently is not desirable. Aerosol cleaners can get up in the striker block channel to blow out crud, and lubrication should only be a drop of oil after such cleaning—maybe every couple of thousand rounds, or more.

More Loctite techniques;
-use red and put it only on the underside of the screw head
-use wicking Locktite #290 and apply a small drop w/ a toothpick after it is installed.

I normally Blue Loctite all the screws. I've had pistols where the grip panel fell off during shooting. Definitely, use it on the rear sight screw.