Dear friends,
I need advice for changing the front sight of my .36 caliber Remmie '58 Navy replica. On top of the barrel it says "NAVY ARMS CO RIDGEFIELD N.J.-ITALY". Below the loading lever, there's Uberti's logo and number 83. So I guess it's made by Uberti in 1983. Here's a pic of the gun.
I bought the gun used. The previous owner could have treated it a bit better, but it works OK and prints decent groups - some 22" (!) straight above the POA. For some reason that escapes my imagination, the front sight has been filed down that much.
Of course, I want to change the front sight to a taller one. The sight has what I think is called press fit. It definitely is not dovetailed (that would have been all too easy).
I have already acquired a few spare front sights, see the next pic. These should be meant for Uberti.
Figured out to have three possible ways to move forward:
1) Try to remove the old sight, and attach the new one in its place. How easily should the old sight pop off? Is it just a mechanical press fit, or can it be welded, soldered, glued... and it would be nice to know beforehand if the stud of the new sight would fit into the barrel socket. Do you know, are these studs/sockets the same size in all Ubertis, or is there variation? The sockets of the spare sights measure 5.0mm, or .197".
2) Leave the old sight in its place. File it down even more, till the blade part is completely gone and there's only a flat, round 'plate' left. Take one of the press fit spare sights, file away the socket part. Solder the new sight on top of the stub of old sight.
3) Take the gun to a gunsmith, let him to remove the old sight and fit the dovetailed spare. This was my first intention, but the local 'smith is extremely busy just now, would not be ready before August :-(
So, what do you recommend? 1, 2, 3 or something else? Any suggestion & advice is greatly appreciated.
I need advice for changing the front sight of my .36 caliber Remmie '58 Navy replica. On top of the barrel it says "NAVY ARMS CO RIDGEFIELD N.J.-ITALY". Below the loading lever, there's Uberti's logo and number 83. So I guess it's made by Uberti in 1983. Here's a pic of the gun.
I bought the gun used. The previous owner could have treated it a bit better, but it works OK and prints decent groups - some 22" (!) straight above the POA. For some reason that escapes my imagination, the front sight has been filed down that much.
Of course, I want to change the front sight to a taller one. The sight has what I think is called press fit. It definitely is not dovetailed (that would have been all too easy).
I have already acquired a few spare front sights, see the next pic. These should be meant for Uberti.
Figured out to have three possible ways to move forward:
1) Try to remove the old sight, and attach the new one in its place. How easily should the old sight pop off? Is it just a mechanical press fit, or can it be welded, soldered, glued... and it would be nice to know beforehand if the stud of the new sight would fit into the barrel socket. Do you know, are these studs/sockets the same size in all Ubertis, or is there variation? The sockets of the spare sights measure 5.0mm, or .197".
2) Leave the old sight in its place. File it down even more, till the blade part is completely gone and there's only a flat, round 'plate' left. Take one of the press fit spare sights, file away the socket part. Solder the new sight on top of the stub of old sight.
3) Take the gun to a gunsmith, let him to remove the old sight and fit the dovetailed spare. This was my first intention, but the local 'smith is extremely busy just now, would not be ready before August :-(
So, what do you recommend? 1, 2, 3 or something else? Any suggestion & advice is greatly appreciated.