Advice for installing proper screw length for optic
- Thread starter NMEDGE
- Start date
SimonRL
Ronin
What optic are you installing onto which gun. Honestly, it’s kind of a crap shoot because there are so many combinations. I have a collection of of different screws (4-40/6-32/M3/M4) at different lengths exactly because of this. I also have metric and saw screw cutters just in case. It’s hard cutting screws with a wheel and I don’t have a belt sander. Filing screws down just plain sucks. You can buy a pretty comprehensive package of optic screws from Vortex.
NMEDGE
Custom
Installing a Holosun 507k on HK CC9. I did purchase a package of different sizes and I guess I will do the trial and error method. From what I understand it's better to be a little shorter than longer. HK says M4x0.7-6 Holosun says 6-32. As long as the gun works and the optic doesn't fall off I guess i'll be good to go. Thanks for responding back to me.
S
Sharks79
Guest
I always called em super champs but something like this can help cut them down
www.harborfreight.com
3-in-1 Multipurpose Stripper, Crimper, and Cutter
Amazing deals on this 3In1 Multipurpose Stripper, Crimper, & Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
S
Sharks79
Guest
It’s not failure, it’s an opportunity to learn.
Jsimon78
Master Class
I do agree. I also had issues with that M&P till that point and now it goes into rotation for EDC. I’m thankful for the gun smith that worked on it.
SimonRL
Ronin
I use the same thing but they’re made by Knipex and are fairly pricey.I always called em super champs but something like this can help cut them down
3-in-1 Multipurpose Stripper, Crimper, and Cutter
Amazing deals on this 3In1 Multipurpose Stripper, Crimper, & Cutter at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.
Install the optic on the plate with your choice of screws before mounting plate to gun. Look for protrusion. Then remove, add plate to gun and optic to plate.
Then it depends on the gun as to whether depth matters based on where the screw holes are. In general, the more length, the better, up to the point of the screw not fitting.
Put the screws all the way into the gun without the optic. Use a paint marker to mark the point on the screw, fully fit, where it's even with the top of the slide cut. Take them out, drop them in the optic and see if you can see that mark. If not, they're not too long... then it's "is there enough length below the optic to provide secure engagement?" If they came with the optic, the general answer is yes.
Jsimon78
Master Class
I beg to disagree. Both of my M&P’s have plates. The 10MM has an upgraded version from that cheap plastic plate. Ask me how I know.
NMEDGE
Custom
New Shield X does not need plate but Shield Plus does.
Jsimon78
Master Class
I have a M&P M2.0 with a Holosun (2 of them. 1 in 9MM and 1 in 10MM). The 10MM is so much better now with the correct screws and base plate (the gunsmith got a baseplate that could stand up to energy) after the optic flew off and hit me in the head.
If the baseplate is load bearing you're doing something wrong. It typically has bosses and screw holes such that the energy is laterally focused on the screws and the optic doesn't pivot.
If the optic came off, you either didn't have enough thread engagement and the combination of plate and screws fixed the engagement problem, or you had enough engagement but not enough torque to seat the threads and prevent rotation.
People think that plates secure optics to guns. They don't. They help evenly distribute load to the screws that do.
Jsimon78
Master Class
I hate to tell you that 10MM have enough kick to sheer off cheap screws. The gunsmith that did work on my M&P M2.0 10MM also corrected the issue that S&W couldn’t seam to fix either.
Don't use cheap screws. They're load bearing.
