Mojo on K31

[TimRB]

I recently got and installed Mojo sights for a 91/30 and a K31. In the case of the K31, they also sent along one of the aperture front sights. The rear sights installed quickly and easily (well, mostly easily) on both rifles, but the K31 front sight is a problem.

Namely, when I went to remove the existing sight by tapping it out of the dovetail groove, it wouldn't move. I presumed there must be something I don't know about that sight, so I didn't try to force it. The translated manual on the K31 says that only gunsmiths are authorized to work on front sights. Duh.

So is there a trick, or special tool?

Tim

 

[Dave P]

Did you try both directions? Maybe the dovetail is beveled one way or t'other.

Dave

 

[TimRB]

"Did you try both directions? Maybe the dovetail is beveled one way or t'other."

Yep, tried that. I *could* get it to move a small amount, but it seemed so tight compared to other sight dovetails I've worked on that I was afraid to keep banging away on it.

Evidently on K31s a gunsmith would adjust the front sight and then punch an alignment mark on it. I'm thinking that this punching causes the dovetail to tighten up. If so, I could continue to drive it out, but I would like to hear from someone who has done it before, just to make sure there is no hidden pin or something.

Tim

 

[Michael Zeleny]

So is there a trick, or special tool?

The Swiss K31 front sight dovetail is very tight. The front sight is not meant to be drift-adjustable. You need a front sight pusher tool:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13976&item=2243785239&rd=1

 

[Sam Adams]

You need a front sight pusher tool:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...785239&rd=1

Uh, is there a tool that does the trick at less than the cost of the rifle itself?

 

[Michael Zeleny]

You need a front sight pusher tool:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=13976&item=2243785239&rd=1

Uh, is there a tool that does the trick at less than the cost of the rifle itself?

A new K31 is worth over $1,500. Part of its value arises from tight manufacturing tolerances. It stands to reason that a K31 front sight adjustment tool would command a premium price even before factoring in its rarity.

 

[Sam Adams]

I was thinking of Swiss K-31s that are coming into the US as surplus via AIM, SOG, etc., at prices ranging from $89-approx. $140 for those with a C&R license, depending upon where you get them. Worth, to me, isn't what it would cost to manufacture now, it is what the thing costs. For $1,500, I could buy a scope mount and a great scope, have a gunsmith overcharge me for setting the whole thing up, and still buy a few cases of the GP-11 ammo for practice.

 

[Michael Zeleny]

I leave the identification of a thing's value with its retail price to the cynic. The difficulty of amateur gunsmithing of the K31 stems from the quality of its manufacture. Your alternatives are (1) to pay a professional gunsmith equipped with the right tool, or (2) to save your money by buying the same tool and learning to use it. There is no other way to adjust the front sight.

 

[swingset]

All 3 of my K-31's were drift-adjustable. The sight base was tight, but not so much that a firm tap didn't move it.

Guess my brass punches must be magic?

Who wants to buy one? I'll only charge $50 per punch, and I'll even throw in directions!

 

[Brian Maffei]

Tim,

I was searching for the answer of front sight adjustment recently. I wanted the tool, but came across this post over at www.swissrifles.com

http://p083.ezboard.com/ftheswissriflesdotcommessageboardfrm8.showMessage?topicID=1450.topic

Seems a "nut splitter" will do the same job but at a presumedly cheaper price.

 

[Sam Adams]

Thanks, everyone, for your responses. I think that I'll try a brass punch, if it doesn't work then a nut-splitter (it hurts to even think about that) and if even that doesn't work then the uber-expensive front sight tool. I don't mind buying tools and doing work myself, but I hesitate to buy tools for a single use that are nearly as expensive as what I'd like to fix.

 

[gyrfalcon]

I also had a lot of trouble removing the front sight on my K31 to install the Mojo. I destroyed a brass punch trying to get it out. In the end it took a hardened steel punch and a large hammer to do the job. There was no damage to the K31, but it is a strange feeling to attack a rifle with such weapons of destruction.