Shimming a Dovetail?

[DuncNZ]

In a gunsmithing book I have they show an illustration of doing the center punch trick but im leary about doing that lol

I have a rifle I purchased second hand , it has some marks in the grooves just under the front sight , they have come through when the previous owner used a punch to raise the metal under the sight base , It doesn't affect the accuracy in any way , it just peeves me .

 

[M. De Land]

A small piece of wet/dry sandpaper works well under a sight in a dovetail to make a snug fit that won't move.

The trouble with that is it holds moisture and deteriorates. Shim stock sealed with blue loc-tite will seal out moisture, retain sight position and is entirely removable without altering either the sight or the dovetail cut.

 

[SDSmlf]

Shims, preferably steel shim stock, are the correct method of tightening dovetail sights. Pecking underneath or beating down the upper portion of the female is unprofessional gun repair and looks like Hell ! The underside punching of the female can actually impress into and distort the bore if the thickness margin is thin enough.

Well if one wants to discuss the correct prim and proper way to tighten up a dovetail, shims just don’t cut it for me. Typically leaves a gap under the sight blade as you raise the sight, plus adds an unnecessary addition component. Something easy to lose upon disassembly for whatever reason by whoever. I would imagine the best solution is a new sight that can be fit to the barrel dovetail. As far as ‘bearing down’ the upper portion, I have seen a period gun with a formed dovetail (as opposed to cut) where the formed bulge was very obvious. Don’t know if the formed dovetail was made by the original gunmaker, but it didn’t appear to be a new addition. TOW sells a dovetail forming tool that gives similar results.

 

[M. De Land]

Well if one wants to discuss the correct prim and proper way to tighten up a dovetail, shims just don’t cut it for me. Typically leaves a gap under the sight blade as you raise the sight, plus adds an unnecessary addition component. Something easy to lose upon disassembly for whatever reason by whoever. I would imagine the best solution is a new sight that can be fit to the barrel dovetail. As far as ‘bearing down’ the upper portion, I have seen a period gun with a formed dovetail (as opposed to cut) where the formed bulge was very obvious. Don’t know if the formed dovetail was made by the original gunmaker, but it didn’t appear to be a new addition. TOW sells a dovetail forming tool that gives similar results.

A properly shimmed sight under it's base is almost impossible to see , covers the whole under side of the sight and pushes it up tightly against the dovetail shoulders. Sealed with blue lock tight it is water proof and impossible to remove without some heat.
The technique is to make the shim large enough to cover the whole underside of the sight base extending out both sides then it is bent up into a wing on either side that holds the shim captive to the sight base until driven in position. When driven into proper position the wings are scribed at a 45 degree angle with a dry wall knife point or sharp chisel and bent back and forth until they break off flush. Touch up with a bit of blue formula and the bright metal shims edges disappear. One needs a magnifier to see that the sight even has a shim, done properly.

 

[BaldHog1951]

Amongst the stuff I was given from my dad. A couple sets of sights was in the mix.

Problem is that I cant get the front to stay put on my CVA Hawken

Out of 2 diffeent sights. 1 fits too loose and other not snug enough ( can be easily slid over by hand)

Whats the best approach to fixing this problem?

I’ve used JB Weld applied to the sight, not the dovetail. Allow it to dry and then tap the sight in the dovetail.

 

[david w]

There is another method one may try. Blue Loctite is an alternative.

 

[Art Caputo]

I have made shims for the dovetail using a cheap feeler gauge set(blade type)…..Choosing the proper size, cut and and trimmed, I can achieve a perfect fit that is unnoticeable when touched up with some browning or bluing solution.

 

[Billy Boy]

Amongst the stuff I was given from my dad. A couple sets of sights was in the mix.

Problem is that I cant get the front to stay put on my CVA Hawken

Out of 2 diffeent sights. 1 fits too loose and other not snug enough ( can be easily slid over by hand)

Whats the best approach to fixing this problem?

You can center punch the base of the dovetail on the gun. It will raise craters that will tighten up the fit.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I’ve used a set of thin feeler gauges as a shim stock before. Works well enough.

 

[RayjHindle]

All great suggestions!

 

[jimairwin]

Amongst the stuff I was given from my dad. A couple sets of sights was in the mix.

Problem is that I cant get the front to stay put on my CVA Hawken

Out of 2 diffeent sights. 1 fits too loose and other not snug enough ( can be easily slid over by hand)

Whats the best approach to fixing this problem?

Easier fix is a few light taps to the top edges of the dovetail cut to tighten the fit to the sight. One can also use a center-punch in the slot to raise some dimples to similarly tighten the fit.