[Pinned&Recessed]

Hello all. This is my first post here on THR, and I have a few questions.

My GF just surprised me an M1 Carbine for our 2-year anniversary and I'm having rear sight problems.

She bought it used and it came setup with a crappy low-power scope and no rear sight.

I pulled the scope and mount and ordered a new adjustable sight from Fulton Armory.

The problem is there is no way to secure the sight in the dovetail mount. It just slides around. I have read about "staking" the adjustable sights and this seems like what I need to do, but I can't find the procedure anywhere.

Is it difficult to stake the rear sight?
Can the shadetree gunsmith do it?
What tools do I need?
Should I get a reputable smith to do it?
How much should he charge?

I've run the gamut of "Home-engineered" ideas such as shimming it under the bottom with a matchbook cover, to centering it manually with a micrometer and Blue Loctite-ing it in place. All these ideas seem wrong, and I want to do it right.

I'm sorry if this seems like a laundry list of questions, but I really want to shoot it, but can't now and it's frustrating!

This seems like a good board and I look forward to any and all responses.

Thank you.

P&R

[Sisco]

If no one here has a solution you might try a search or post at
http://www.jouster.com/cgi-bin/carbine/carbine.pl?index

[dfariswheel]

Since you got a new Carbine, you should pick up the maintenance manual, and the user's manual.

The maintenance manual gives details on how to detail strip the rifle, how to disassemble and reassemble the gas system, and how to stake the sight.

Basically, you center the sight base in the dovetail. Crank the windage knob to move the sight over as far as it will go to the left. You should see a small groove on the base. This is where you stake it in place.
Look at the dovetail on the receiver, and you will probably see an old stake mark on the dovetail.
With the base centered, use a slightly dulled center punch to move just enough dovetail metal into the staking area on the sight base, to hold it in place.

DO NOT hammer around on or attempt to do a heavy stake job. Carbine receiver's are very hard, and the dovetail can break, crack, or chip.

If the sight is very loose, peen the sight base NOT the receiver. You can also help it along with Lock-tite.

If the sight base is too tight, DON'T try to force it into place. Remove a small amount of metal from the base.