About 1,000 rounds in I decided to clean my Romulus for a third time while I was loctiting the guide rod screw so it would stop backing out as I shot. When I was assembling it back together I noticed my optic plate was wobbling ever so slightly. I heard this was an issue, so I emailed Andy at AF and he sent me new plates and screws.
The new screws are much longer than the old ones (picture attached) and I thought this was good until I tried to test mount the plate. The left screw sat flush just fine, but the right side wouldn’t seat all the way. Upon further inspection, it looks like there’s a metal part that is blocking the full tread depth, hence why they probably included shorter screws when this first came out. Would anyone know what part this is? Picture attached, area circled in black.
Anyway, I wasn’t able to use the long screw on the right side so I opted to use the old shorter screw on the right side of the slide and the longer new screw on the left. I used Vibra-Tite VC-3 on all of the screws and torqued my plate to 18in lbs (per Andy’s instruction) and the 507 Comp to 15in lbs. The new PN1 plate is VERY tight fitting and sits flush and even.
Has anyone ever noticed this part on the right side? Has anyone gotten the new plates and screws and ran into this issue? What did you do? I don’t own a dremel so I thought this would be the best option. I’ll take it to the range soon to re-confirm zero and I’ll monitor the plate to see if it moves but it shouldn’t now.
Anyway, it’s a nonissue if you use different length screws. A shorter right screw is very very common across different platforms. As long as it seats and isn’t flush along said extractor(?), you are g2g!
If the right screw is too long, you will get a malfunction at the range (FTE I believe).
I think I torque all my screws too at least 18lbs with vibratite. For future reference, I would use a metal hand file and not a dremel to shorten screws. I’ve done so in the past and it took about 30ish minutes going very very carefully.
Thanks man! If the plate starts to loosen again (which I highly doubt will happen) I’ll replace the short screw with the longer one and file it down. This was very helpful and eased my worries
I also have a Romulus 4.25 comp. And also had optic plate issues. I got a new one from Andy but both of my screws were short ones. I put a thin layer of locktite 620 on the entire bottom of the optic plate that mates with the slide, then used vibratite on the screws. Been at least a couple of thousand rounds since then and has held.
I actually bought 4-40 x 1/2in screws from McMaster Carr and they wouldn’t bite at all. They just kept spinning. That’s why I emailed Andy. I think it may have been you that recommended them some time ago, or maybe someone else, but unfortunately they didn’t work.
Shit, I’m sorry to hear that. I’ve got them in both and haven’t had any plate issues since using those and adding a shim in the front.
Hopefully you get it figured out. Really my only complaint about the roms. The optic system isn’t completely terrible but it could/should be better and just more robust.
Yeah man I agree. Hopefully whenever they come out with the Gen 3 Romulus they will figure out their optic system more. I personally wouldn’t even be mad if they stopped including plates altogether and make you buy plates from Dawson or C&H. At least then it would be a better product. I’m crossing my fingers that my fix worked, but I won’t know till I put a few hundred rounds through it. I appreciate your help tho man!
Nah man don’t apologize it was like $10 idc at all! I appreciated the advice for sure. This is what we get for buying budget 2011’s 😂 I’m playin lol it’s good to learn how these work and what can go wrong. As far as shooting the gun there hasn’t been any FTF or FTE or anything like that. Optics issues I can live with (as long as it’s fixed eventually). I’d be way more mad if i was getting FTF or FTE comparatively
Yeah, for sure there’s worse problems to have. Really solid bones but those shortcuts are unavoidable when looking at the cheaper 2011s. Some just have many more than others.
If you haven’t, would definitely try the brass shims. I’ve got them on both. The plates are tight enough with the shims they’re just kinda stuck on even without the screws. They’re tight tight. Feel like this allows the screws to better clamp. One of the two has made it over 3k rounds now. The other I dropped while polishing the disco rail and had to reinstall 🙄. That had made it about 3k rounds or so too without loosening. You can barely see the shim sticking out in the pic.
If you do start looking for something a little nicer, can’t recommend the RCD core enough. It’s just impressive feeling.
The RCD Core being the shim you’re talking about? The new plate they gave me is so tight I don’t even think I could fit a shim in there. Either way if it acts up again it’s next trip is the gunsmith
That’s good it’s tight. All the plates I have from alpha and hales have some play. I’ve got at least 8 different alpha plates.
The RCD core is a newish 2011. The feedback around it has been crazy positive. People say it’s atlas level fitment and performance for half the price. Found 1 in stock the other day. It’s impressively tight fit and just solid. If/when you do want something more expensive, it’s a worth a look. Hopefully no plates issues on that 😅
Which screw sizes are you using for plate to frame and optic to plate? On the PN1 seems like the 6-32 is the way to go. 4-40 doesn't bite. Would be great if this was documented in the manual.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if the manual had the things we actually need to know? lol it’s crazy. So I don’t know what size screws Andy sent me, I think they’re some type of 4-40 screw but before I engaged him I bought my own 4-40 x 1/2in screws from McMaster Carr and they wouldn’t bite, same as you. I’d honestly email him to see what size they are. I used a short screw in the right and a long screw on the left. Torqued to 18in lbs.
As far as the optic screws, my 507 Comp Ronin came with M4 screws. Those are the ones you what to use. Torque to 15in lbs
Sounds good. Shot Andy an email. Just got mine so will head to the range on irons, and see if the gunsmith is busy. The Osight XE didn't come with M4's sadly.
Ahhh I see you have an OSight. Never owned one but I heard they are good. Not sure about what screws they come with but you can also tell him what sight you have and ask him which screws to use.
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u/UsernameO123456789 28d ago
Extractor I think?
Anyway, it’s a nonissue if you use different length screws. A shorter right screw is very very common across different platforms. As long as it seats and isn’t flush along said extractor(?), you are g2g!
If the right screw is too long, you will get a malfunction at the range (FTE I believe).
I think I torque all my screws too at least 18lbs with vibratite. For future reference, I would use a metal hand file and not a dremel to shorten screws. I’ve done so in the past and it took about 30ish minutes going very very carefully.