Do You Have A Screw Loose?

A term not so used that often today but a really good one to ask?  Do you have a screw loose?   A lot of our gear / kit and guns have screws to hold the stuff together.  When was the last time you checked yours? From holsters, mag pouches, sites and mounted flash lights, many need specialized screws for specialized applications.  Many of these you will be hard pressed to find in your local hardware store. 

 I came home from the range one day and realized that my holster had started to cant forward a little. I am thinking what’s up with this?  I push it back into place and a few minutes later it is canted again. As I t took holster off a screw falls to the floor. I then pull my firearm out of the holster and one of the backing nuts falls on the bed. If this had happened at the range or in the field, I would be contacting the company for a replacement. I would have been out of service until the parts had arrived which could take days or weeks.  Yesterday I taught a class and I was wearing a hard plastic double mag pouch that I had bought at least 15 years ago.  It has seen very limited use.  When I took it off I noticed I could rotate it 360 degrees.  This was designed so you could cant it in any direction you chose if needed.  The one hold down screw had started to work its way out. I just needed an Allen/hex wrench to tighten it and it was as good as new.

I took a class a few weeks back. (Yes, I attend classes too.)  A woman in the class was shooting a pretty high cost handgun and the instructor and she were talking about the last class she had attended with him.  While shooting, the back site had come of the gun and struck her in the face. Oops!  Was this any fault of hers? I do not know, but we need to be checking our gear on a regular basis.  I saw a post of a front site on a Glock that had come loose.  It was just flopping around on the end of the slide.  That could really ruin your day when you draw out the firearm and there is nothing to aim with.

If you are going to be running your gear hard, you need to periodically check all the screws, clamps and attachment points. Some screws may need Loctite. Some screws may need to be torqued. Consult your manufacturer’s specification to see what is required.

Now get out on the range and shoot!