A client posed the issue of his Novak cut front sight coming off at the range no matter what he uses to attach it. There was a tale of woe where several sights have been lost and each time another sight was put on the gun using a progressively more aggressive version of Loctite.

When originally asked about this, I was thinking that I would tighten the wings of the dovetail and use Loctite 609 Retaining Fluid. After I thought about it for a few minutes, I decided to call Loctite to see what they recommended.

I called Loctite’s Consumer Division and after hearing the scenario they promptly transferred me to the Industrial Division. After some discussion on the issue, the Loctite representative suggested Loctite 380 Toughened Instant Adhesive (also known as Loctite 380 Black Max). It is a rubber-toughened super glue style adhesive that is well suited to the pounding environment of a semiautomatic pistol slide.

The data available to the Loctite representative suggests that this product would hold up for a carbon steel slide with an aluminum sight as well as a carbon steel slide and a carbon steel sight. The data supports the use of a hard anodized aluminum surface but there was no data available on a blued steel surface. Unfortunately, I forgot to inquire about stainless steel. I did ask if roughing up the dovetail and sight surfaces (that cannot be seen) would increase the strength of the hold. The Loctite representative said yes it would.

If you try this product in this manner, I would be interested in hearing about your experience.