Lyman 17A on a GPR

[SteveF]

So I bought a Lyman 17AEU front globe sight for my Lyman GPR. The rifle manual says that is the proper size sight to use. I miked the stock blade sight male dovetail at .342" wide, but the 17AEU male dovetail is .360" wide and will not go in the slot. Do folks file it down to fit? or use the 17AML sight?

 

[BrownBear]

Yup. Had the same problem myself.

One other thing to be aware of: The center of the globe is as I recall .550 above the base of the dovetail. This is pretty high, and it forces you to raise the rear aperture so high that the brace screw isn't long enough to touch the sight block. Not that it provides all that much support or is needed for the range, it still leaves the rear sight kind of dangling around all by itself and exposed for field use.

I still reinstall the globe front for target shooting, but for field use I cut down a .360 slot FO front sight (sorry, bum eyes) to fit. The correct front sight height to lower the aperture rear far enough for contact of the brace screw is .260, as measured from the base of the dovetail.

 

[redriverclerk]

Lyman has two different systems. One has the standard dovetail, (3/8", I think) the other is .360. Most of the new barrels come from Italy and need the .360 sights. Lyman only makes a couple sights in that 360 category that I could find. I did the same thing before, ordered the wrong sight and had to send it back.

 

[BrownBear]

I agree RRC. But in my case the box said AEU17, but the dovetail was .360. Sounds like that's what SteveF experienced, too. In my case it was easier and better timing simply to file the dovetail than to go through the gymnastics of returning the sight and waiting (hoping) for the return of the right one.

I sure wish it wasn't so tall in either case, relative to the height required for the receiver sight. I've been looking and thinking about drilling for a TC receiver sight if possible, but haven't done more than think yet.

 

[redriverclerk]

Lyman has two different systems. One has the standard dovetail, (3/8", I think) the other is .360. Most of the new barrels come from Italy and need the .360 sights. Lyman only makes a couple sights in that 360 category that I could find. I did the same thing before, ordered the wrong sight and had to send it back.

 

[silverfox]

Been there and done that. Best would be to explain problem to company and send the sight back and get the right one. Second you can cut a new dovetail. Or third do what I did when I didn't know better but it worked and still does. I cut the base off the sight and cut a new dovetail for the base. Made the sight lower so the rear sight would work with the new now lower front sight.
Good luck Fox :thumbsup:

 

[SteveF]

:grin: Well I went with the suggestion to modify the dovetail and it works great. I cut the stock dovetail off and ground the base flat. Then I used a small cut-off wheel on a Dremel to shape the new dovetail, doing the final fit and finish with a small file. Some steel wool and a quick re-blueing and it looks great and the center of the globe is very close to the height of the stock blade. The whole process took an hour.

Thanks for the tips!

Steve