Home made snubby advice

[user 33697]

Hi guys,

I’m thinking of taking an older 1858 remmy and making a snubby out of it. Properly cutting a dovetail or drilling and tapping for a sight is beyond my tools and skill. Has anyone used JB Weld for gluing a front sight on a remmy? Track of the Wolf has a nice selection of front sights. What would be a good height for the front sight.? Any experience or thoughts on making a snubby would be appreciated.

 

[hawkeye2]

I would solder the sight on before I would use epoxy. To get a height lay a straightedge on the top of the frame and measure down to the barrel at the point you want the sight. That is the minimum height for the sight and it actually ought to be taller.

You will be ditching the loading lever and need to come up with a way to retain the cylinder pin. One of the conversion cylinder manufacturers makes a devise to do that or you can research online.

 

[Nazgul58]

I made one from an 1858, it came out well.

Bought this from Midway USA. It works. There are several guides available to cut a front sight slot with a file. I used one to install a new sight, it was easy. Good luck.

Don

 

[doubleset]

I would solder the sight on before I would use epoxy.

I used epoxy to glue a sight on once. It worked. If using solder, I'd use silver solder.
(Actually, I also just used epoxy to glue a chunk of fiber optic on the top of a filed down blade sight. But that doesn't really count. )

The big thing about epoxy is that it's really messy to remove (and the fumes aren't real healthy) and replace with something like solder if you later decide you should have gone that way.

 

[user 33697]

I would solder the sight on before I would use epoxy. To get a height lay a straightedge on the top of the frame and measure down to the barrel at the point you want the sight. That is the minimum height for the sight and it actually ought to be taller.

You will be ditching the loading lever and need to come up with a way to retain the cylinder pin. One of the conversion cylinder manufacturers makes a devise to do that or you can research online.

Great advice.

 

[user 33697]

I made one from an 1858, it came out well.View attachment 139448
Bought this from Midway USA. It works. There are several guides available to cut a front sight slot with a file. I used one to install a new sight, it was easy. Good luck.

Don

Look like Midway USA in out of stock for this 1858 cylinder quick release but Old South Firearms has 17 of them available. I'll buy one. Checking online for hand dovetail cutting guides, Midway USA has one but it's for a round barrel but Dixie Gun Works and Jedediah Starr Trading Company appear to have one for octangular barrels. A Midway USA has a video on YouTube for hand cutting a dovetail without a fixture but using the octangular fixture and the video method gives me an excellent way of cutting the dovetail.

 

[hawkeye2]

Soft solder would be adequate if the sight had any kind of base and silver bearing solder would be ideal. True silver solder would be way over the top.

 

[nhmoose]

Dovetailed front sight even better!

 

[user 48679]

Here's a tutorial on cutting a barrel sight dovetail, using hacksaw & files (and some thoughtful measuring prior to starting):

Cutting Dovetails by KSCO (gunloads.com)

I've cut several myself, using this method, and found the bottom of the dovetail cut need to be level & 90-degrees from the tip barrel flat.

 

[necchi]

I’m thinking of taking an older 1858 remmy and making a snubby out of it.

If you do that, Why would you need a front sight?
It's not like your going to "take aim" at an "X" at 20ft and hit it,,
A snub nose is for "pocket carry", a front blade will just interfere.
Honestly, Snubby's are for hitting a door at 15ft.
Do you really need to hold at arms length and "sight" to hit center mass in close proximity?

 

[Brazos John]

1. Snubbies are sometimes called belly guns. And that doesn't refer to YOUR belly.
2. I used JB Weld to attach an ejector tube on an unmentionable revolver, and it did not work. And now the barrel has the remaining Weld material stuck to it, making it pretty ugly. ☹

 

[user 33697]

Here's a tutorial on cutting a barrel sight dovetail, using hacksaw & files (and some thoughtful measuring prior to starting):

Cutting Dovetails by KSCO (gunloads.com)

I've cut several myself, using this method, and found the bottom of the dovetail cut need to be level & 90-degrees from the tip barrel flat.

An excellent tutorial.

 

[user 33697]

If you do that, Why would you need a front sight?
It's not like your going to "take aim" at an "X" at 20ft and hit it,,
A snub nose is for "pocket carry", a front blade will just interfere.
Honestly, Snubby's are for hitting a door at 15ft.
Do you really need to hold at arms length and "sight" to hit center mass in close proximity?

That's a very good question. Thinking that the 19th century pepper box shooters didn't have a front sight for the purpose they were designed. I may scrap the whole idea of a front sight.

 

[Colonial Boy]

Basically a snubby is a point and fire arm, the front sight usually only has psychological value
.

 

[nkbj]

What about one of the brass or silver turtle blades like Track Of The Wolf sells?

 

[doubleset]

Basically a snubby is a point and fire arm, the front sight usually only has psychological value.

I have seen my wife repeatedly and reliably hit a steel turkey silhouette target at 50 yds. with her Ruger .38 snubnose -- which has a front sight and a top strap groove as a rear sight. So there's a lot more than psychological value in one of these with a competent shooter behind it. But I do agree that -- particularly if being thought of for close-up "self defense" purposes -- you may as well eliminate the sight and focus on practicing to hit the target with an "instinctive shooting" approach.

 

[JBird]

I did this Remington a while back (sorry it's wearing a conversion cylinder) it was my first attempt at this type of soldering and it was pretty easy. I just used some 1/8" brass stock to make a front sight

I recommend a taller front sight. My front sight is right at 1/4" tall and it is too short for shooting at 5-7 yards (Point of impact is 10+ inches high) this is with 45colt though. Round balls may perform differently. But for a range gun using a six o clock hold isn't a problem to keep shots relatively centered

I also went a different route with cylinder pin retention. I like the aesthetic of the loading lever to much on Remingtons to get rid of it. So I chopped it down and pinned it to the cylinder pin so it all comes off as one assembly being retained by the loading lever screw

 

[Rifleman1776]

Dovetailed front sight even better!

Yes, for sure. You can cut a dovetail into the barrel yourself. I have done it and if I can do it, so can you. You will need a hacksaw and small triangular file. Using a grinder smooth on side of the file. Cut a series of slots into the barrel where you want the dovetail the use the file to remove what's left. Go easy on the ends so you do not make it too large. Insert sight and shoot. About an hours work.

 

[bud in pa]

Get some of Brownells HIForce 44 solder. It melts with a propane torch and is extremely strong.

 

[doubleset]

Get some of Brownells HIForce 44 solder. It melts with a propane torch and is extremely strong.

Nothing wrong with propane, but for all my torch soldering needs I try to use my little benzene torch. Easier to handle and use. For other soldering occasions (often brass instrument repair, etc.) I use my air/acetylene outfit -- but most people (aside from jewelers and plumbers )-- probably don't have one of those.