Soldering sights?

[mikee51848]

Do you solder or dovetail? If you solder, what kind do you use? If you dovetail, how hard is it to cut the angles, and do I need a special tool for that?
Thanks!

 

[dlemaster]

WildatHeart
I use both methods, solder on the front sight on a trade gun or fowler and dovetails on rifles.
I use 95/5 solder when soldering, and use a hacksaw to remove most of the metal to proper depth for a dovetailed sight then remove the metal between the hacksaw cuts leaving a shallow square or rectangle cut out in the top of the barrel. The dovetail angles are filed in using a fine triangular file that has had the cutting teeth on one side smoothly ground off. The smooth side of the file is placed in the bottom of the sight cut out and the corners are used to do the undercuts for the dovetails to get a snug, wedge fit for the sight.
Hope this helps.

Regards, Dave

 

[more powder]

Wildatheart Most of the time i solder the front sight and cut dovetail for rear might not be p.c i don't know.I use a very large file to remove metal for dovetails then use small fine triangular file.I find that i can control the depth better with the large file.

 

[bioprof]

Brownells sells a triangular file that has the teeth milled off of one side that is designed specially for hand filing dovetails. Of course, you can make one on your own by grinding off one side of a triangular file.