Mosin/Nagant front sight mount question...

[ArmedBear]

The front sight base on my M38 is spun to the left.

It appears to be held on with just a pin.

Is that true?

What's the best way to knock out the pin without tweaking the barrel?

Any thoughts on how best to align it so it's vertical, without having to punch out the pin repeatedly?

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

Are you sure it is held on with a pin? All of my Nagants have the front sight drifted into a dovetail. They drift in from right to left (with the muzzle pointed away from you).

 

[ArmedBear]

The front sight is on a dovetail. The dovetail fits into a base, and the base is held onto the barrel somehow -- it looks like with a pin.

The base is what is way off-center, much farther than I'd want to drift the dovetail to correct it.

 

[Kymasabe]

You can tap the pin out with a hammer and punch. However, if the sight base is twisted to one side, it may have bent the pin and may be a bugger to get out. You may want to locate/order another pin...just in case.