Thomas.bill92
40 Cal
I always regret not taking more pictures of projects like this but once I get started, I kind of get a one track mind and pictures ain't part of the train.
In any case, here goes. I pulled the barrel off of my Uberti 1861 Colt Navy to replace the front sight for something taller and easier to see. I know it's the "way they were designed" but I can't stand a firearm that doesn't shoot to point of aim. Drifting out the front sight from the rear towards the muzzle was super easy, so much so that I was kind of surprised it was staying in at all. The blade is 3mm thick and finding the appropriate thickness chunk of brass (without spending any money) was a pain in the butt, I even considered cutting up a silver dollar but upon measuring, even that was too thin. I found my stock in some sort of long lost bracket that was buried in a forgotten corner of a forgotten barn, you know how it goes.
After grinding a corner and confirming that it was indeed brass, I went ahead and sawed off a chunk that would suit my needs. A couple of seconds on the bench sander got the corrosion and casting marks out and I was able to trace the radius from the base of the stock sight over to the brass.
Hacksaw to do the bulk removal, sander to get the profile close and a file to finish the bottom radius and the hard part was done. Next, a couple of taps with a ball peen hammer on the bottom radius to give a good friction fit between the blade and the groove in the barrel. Once I was happy with the placement, I peened the steel into the new sight using a center punch for a rock solid hold. Ignore the marks on the side of the barrel, it's just residue from the cheap leather glovr I was using on the vice jaws.
One more trip to the bench sander got the profile about how I want it and a bit of filing to knocked down the rough edges. The sight is still really tall and will have to be filed down at the range but better that than having to make aother taller sight after the fact. Next step of the project will be widening and squaring out the notch on the hammer as I don't want to taper the front blade, I want keep it nice and wide for best possible visibility in the low light of the summer woods. On that note, I also finished the edge of the sight facing me down to 600 grit to keep it bright and shiny, left the rest a little rough because that's kind of the look I'm going for with this one.
Obviously this project is a bit easier with power tools (bench sander) but it would not be a hard project if all you had was a file and hacksaw. Get out to the garage and make stuff y'all!
In any case, here goes. I pulled the barrel off of my Uberti 1861 Colt Navy to replace the front sight for something taller and easier to see. I know it's the "way they were designed" but I can't stand a firearm that doesn't shoot to point of aim. Drifting out the front sight from the rear towards the muzzle was super easy, so much so that I was kind of surprised it was staying in at all. The blade is 3mm thick and finding the appropriate thickness chunk of brass (without spending any money) was a pain in the butt, I even considered cutting up a silver dollar but upon measuring, even that was too thin. I found my stock in some sort of long lost bracket that was buried in a forgotten corner of a forgotten barn, you know how it goes.
After grinding a corner and confirming that it was indeed brass, I went ahead and sawed off a chunk that would suit my needs. A couple of seconds on the bench sander got the corrosion and casting marks out and I was able to trace the radius from the base of the stock sight over to the brass.
Hacksaw to do the bulk removal, sander to get the profile close and a file to finish the bottom radius and the hard part was done. Next, a couple of taps with a ball peen hammer on the bottom radius to give a good friction fit between the blade and the groove in the barrel. Once I was happy with the placement, I peened the steel into the new sight using a center punch for a rock solid hold. Ignore the marks on the side of the barrel, it's just residue from the cheap leather glovr I was using on the vice jaws.
One more trip to the bench sander got the profile about how I want it and a bit of filing to knocked down the rough edges. The sight is still really tall and will have to be filed down at the range but better that than having to make aother taller sight after the fact. Next step of the project will be widening and squaring out the notch on the hammer as I don't want to taper the front blade, I want keep it nice and wide for best possible visibility in the low light of the summer woods. On that note, I also finished the edge of the sight facing me down to 600 grit to keep it bright and shiny, left the rest a little rough because that's kind of the look I'm going for with this one.
Obviously this project is a bit easier with power tools (bench sander) but it would not be a hard project if all you had was a file and hacksaw. Get out to the garage and make stuff y'all!
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