confusion on bead threads for new sight

[mazzgolf]

I was shooting trap with my Beretta A300 Outlander over the weekend and my front bead fell out and got lost.   This is the second time it has happened to me. The first time, my gun was just a few weeks old. I emailed Beretta and they kindly sent me a new one for free. They did tell me to use LocTite, which I didn't do  (not realizing LocTite makes a "blue" product that isn't permanent   ), because I knew I wanted to eventually replace it anyway. I won't press their patience and ask again for another one - this second time was my fault for ignoring their advice and not using LocTite, and I'm going to replace it anyway - this just forces me to replace it now.

 

So I bought this DeadRinger Uni-Bead. It comes with 5 different screws for different shotguns. The screws aren't labeled, I have no idea which is which. But two of them "kinda fit" - the M2.6x.45 and the 3-56  (the instructions say those two fit "Beretta") - so I know those two are at least M2.6x.45 and 3-56, but I do not know which is which. The bead that berettausa.com sells shows the diameter of 2.6mm so I assume this means the screw I want is the M2.6x.45.

 

And why I say "kinda fit" is because they are still wobbly going in. Only on the final half turn of the screw do they actually feel locked in with no wobble.

 

I would like to put the one in that actually matches the threads on my barrel rib (even though they both feel wobbly) which should be the M2.6x.45 one, but I have no idea how to know which is which. If I look really close with a magnifying glass, I think I can see just a tiny bit more space between the threads in one compared to the other. The angle of the threads look almost identical.

 

Any idea how I know which one is which? Does it even matter? This time I will be using LocTite (Blue)   so I hope that would help even if I use the wrong one.

[mazzgolf]

Crap, no matter which of the two screws I use, they are too long. Screw them down and the sight isn't seated firmly on the rib - it just swings around loosely. Looks like I need to somehow grind down an already tiny 4mm long screw!! Why can't things "just work" when you buy them?

[BowhunterNJ]

Man I hate when things don't just "fit", truly an annoyance.  If it's just a matter of length, you can just use a dremel and cut off part of the screw.  Vice it down and wear some safety glasses, you don't want those tiny metal shards flying at your eyes!

[Haskell_Hunter]

I work with absurdly tiny screws all the time (take apart a smartphone if you want to see microscopic screws), and found that even if it sorta-kinda fits, there's nothing like the real thing.  Email the manufacturer or bring it into a gunsmith you know to get the right screw.  Most of the time they'll give it to you for free, and if you get it for nothing from the local guy, walk out of his shop with an armful of ammo.

 

Grinding tiny screw could become a futile effort of looking for it on the floor of your shop.  Tightening a vice on them can deform them, and they will rotate in a vice since you can't clamp the shaft and the grinder will send them flying.

 

This advice comes to you from a guy who takes stuff apart with a magnetic pad underneath because I've lost screws going rogue and falling on the floor (I also have neodymium magnets on strings to drag across the floor to find them...)

 

I hate tiny screws.

[MGHunter66]

3-56 fit most beretta shotguns, the screws have a slight taper to them and snug up at the last turn or two. Any tapered screw will loosen without using loctite. For proper install put a tiny bit on the sight threads and let it dry, once dry apply a tiny bit more and install it until its snug

Edited September 6, 2016 by maximus66

[Bucndoe]

Even if you use red Loctite you can remove it. Just heat it up with a heat gun first and it will come out

[mazzgolf]

I borrowed the blue loctite from my neighbor, so I'm good there. But I can't even get to the step where I use it.

 

It's still no good. I ground down the length of one screw to make sure it wasn't bottoming out (was easy because I just left it in the little plastic holder the screws were shipped in - holding that plastic piece while the screw was protruding from it while slightly hitting it with the grinder worked). But it still doesn't tighten down the sight. I looked at the other screw that fits the threads but is the original length, and the same thing happened. So I don't think it is the length that is the problem, I think its the hole in the sight where the screw goes.

 

It looks like the taper on the hole in the sight (and the hole itself) is too big to allow the screw to put pressure down on the rib before the screw hits the stop. The problem is this sight is made to fit a bunch of guns, and all the other screws have a bigger diameter, so the hole was cut to fit those bigger screws. But because of that it sucks for the smaller screws.

 

Hard to explain, but here's a quick diagram with a side view and what I think the problem is (hopefully, it makes sense - you can see the screw in the rib hole and the sight.)

 

 

I think the hole is too big and the taper of the screw never tightens down on the taper in the hole before the screw gets stopped when its taper hits the top of the hole in the rib and can't go in anymore. I have no idea how this can be fixed short of getting a screw with a bigger head and/or flatter taper maybe? That or just return the damn thing.

 

Any ideas?

 

 

Edited September 7, 2016 by mazzgolf

[mattg1500]

You were correct, it should be the 2.6mm screw. the 3-56 is the one that will screw in but be loose. It should def fit snug

[gobblergetter]

I would buy a better/different sight

[mazzgolf]

I contacted the Dead Ringer folks - they are sending me a new sight. They think the countersink in the base is probably too deep (I agree) - I am hoping the new one doesn't have the same issue. If so, I'll go buy something different - looking at the new HiVis CompSight Litewave as a possible replacement.