J-B Weld for a poor man's sight job?

[MrTuffPaws]

I have a Mak, and like all un-mod'ed Maks, the sights are horrible.

I am thinking about doing a sight job on the gun, but don't have the money to spend on a $99 dollar gun. Does anyone know if I can just build up the front sight with J-B Weld? I am sure that it can be done, but I am more conserned if the J-B Weld will hold during use.

My plans are to build up the front sight and file to shape. For the back sight, I will just deeping and widen the slot. Maybe add some white dots or something.

 

[JohnKSa]

I've done it on an airgun and it held up well. I don't know about a firearm.

 

[rwc]

You may want to consider grinding off the current sight and then JB-ing on a new one of your preference. I've not done this but I've read a few threads over in http://www.rimfirecentral.com of folks modifying sights (usually going from field sights to target sights).

Good luck.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

It will work -- I've done that to zero a Springfield 03A3. My main worry would be abrasion. If this is a holster gun, you will wear the new sight away. Have you considered a drop of solder?

 

[mnrivrat]

JB weld is good for as lot of things but I wouldn't use it for that. I don't think it would stand up well at all.

I would use solder . Clean and flux well before use and it will hold up much better.

 

[Ifishsum]

+1 on the solder. I did that once to an old .22, built up solder and then filed it to shape. It is still intact 20 years later.

 

[Azrael256]

Are we talking some kind of thin blade sight up front? If so, JB Weld is going to be flexible at ~1/16", and it's not going to have good adhesion with so little surface area. It'll work well for awhile, but then it's just going to pop off. Contrary to what Paul Harvey would have you believe, JB Weld is best suited for repairs when no other option is available.

Do you know anybody with a wirefeed welder? You might have him build up a little metal on there that you can file to shape. I wouldn't think that a little bit of welding would mess with the temper of the steel, and it will hold better than solder. Just something to think about. Consult somebody with more metallurgy knowledge before actually trying it.

 

[brickeyee]

Either try and weld it up and shape it or braze a new front sight on.

 

[entropy]

+1 on Azrael256's suggestion. TIG weld on top of the sight and file as needed.

 

[chopinbloc]

i've used jb weld to fix radiators before and it's held up for years, but i think the others are right about the holster wear. i was thinking about using it to "glue" on night iron sights to the top of my acog. i think jb weld works great, on a par with duct tape.