My New Front Sight

[Wwalstrom]

A month or two ago, I shortened the barrel on my Stainless 1858 Pietta Remmington. I hand cut a dovetail, and made a new sight from brass. I was not happy with the sight, as it ended up being too short (shooting way high) and the angles weren't quite right for the dovetail. Two weeks ago, I made a new front sight. It looks good (at least, I think so), the angles line up, and it seems to be shooting to point of aim.

I shot 6 cylinders (offhand), with no binding, by the way ... but I should have waited to have coffee until after my shooting. The brass cleaning rod at the top is part of my pocket cleaning kit, it is segmented, and along with patches, jag, brush, mop, and a flat screwdriver, fits into an altoids tin. This is not a normal grouping for me or the pistol


Here's a shot of the pistol:


Here's a close up of the new sight:

 

[Afy]

Compared to my BP shooting that is great shooting.

Personally I like long barrels... though must admit the pistol does look better protioned with the mods..

 

[arcticap]

You must work for a pretty good outfit for them to allow you to do all those modifications using their equipment.
Do they pay you while you're doing it too?
The sight looks nicer, I guess practice makes perfect .

 

[Wwalstrom]

Paid to do the mods ...

I "bribed" a machinist to modify the cylinder and, at the time, the shop was really slow. I needed a favor, and he needed a favor ... gotter done! The brass stock I used for the sight was scrap, and the same machinist showed me the basics of manually using the bridgeport to clean up my hacksaw work. What I took the files to was basically and extruded capital "T" shape. I did that over my lunch break (but it ran over a bit). The rest of the stuff (cutting down and recrowning the barrel, cutting the dovetail, making the front sight) was done on my time.

 

[hildo]

Low Walker front sight

After seeing this I am wondering if a modification could also be done to my Walker barrel. It's shoots high, as I understand all Walkers do.
Since I do my shooting at 25 meters (around 30 yards?) I have to aim somewhere close to the bottom of the card to get it in the middle. This makes shooting in the middle kind of a guess.

What would be the best way to make the front sight higher?
Replace it? It seemes pretty stuck in there. Or maybe modify the current one?

 

[Texoma]

where did you find your cleaning rod?
the front sight looks good.
i also like how you squared up the nipple openings.

 

[Wwalstrom]

Cleaning Rod

I MADE the cleaning rod. Not too hard if you have access to a lathe and 1/4 inch diameter brass rod (available at any hardware store). I wanted a segmented rod that looked similar to an an old one I saw ... somewhere (don't remember where). I got all the pieces cut to length, faced, drilled and taped #8-32 on the lathe. The "loop" end, I first annealed (softened) by heating to a dull red and quenching in cool water until cool to the touch. Clamp the non-threaded end to a piece of round stock (I used a tire iron) with a vice grip, and bent it around the round stock. That got me close, and I finished it off with a deadblow hammer.

I had the machinist open up the cap windows so I could use a Ted Cash Teardrop capper. I prefer to use a capper, and really prefer the teardrop design capper, as it will hold 100 caps ... and I do not like to have to stop shooting to refill a capper with grease and soot covered fingers.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h242/Wwalstrom/1858RemNA-Mods/CapperMod-Top01.jpg

 

[DaveP (UK)]

That's a pretty handsome looking gun!
I gather the shortening hasn't affected accuracy?

 

[mec]

great job on the sight.

 

[rifle]

Wwalstrom,
i like the rod that fits into an altoids tin box. good ider. little suggestion....make lube pills and put them in the box. they'll keep the barrel clean,and chambers too,for at least 200+ shots(probably more but i usually don't fire more than 200+ shots at a sitting )sos ya can get thru all six shots of a cylinder without fouling and flyers. recipe....equal parts...bees wax,mutton tallow,paraffin wax. if interested you can get a box to try offin my wife....junk yard dog at 740-824-5566. yer site looks good and the modifications are good too. handy. i'm gonna try yer method of using a capper with the widdened nipple ports. i'm so used to my fingers doing the capping though....

someone asked about a walker sight. i've got one with a taller blade where it was milled the exact width of the slot and soldered in. messed up the bluing.re-did it. my gun looks like an antique it's so old(20 years old) and been used a lot. the barrel grooves are a spacious .464in. sos i ended up reaming the chambers to .467. shoots like a laser beam. haa haa gotta use a custom ball mould i had LEE make fer me. .472 ball.
anywhoooo...i think the cap&ballers shoot better with chambers at least equal to the barrel grooves or .001-.003in. over.
A. Pietta told me that the chambers are left small because '"lead goes everywhere". Italian to English means the lead bumps up. of course Pietta makes several guns that have equal chambers to grooves. their "Shooters" remington and all the "distressed finish" revolvers got equal chambers to barrel grooves. im having trouble with coffee too Wwalstrom. gets me going off track in the thread.

i do dovetailed front sights that are made from muzzle loading rifle sights to look like a blade but with the dovetailed slot fer windage adjustment. ifin the sight has to be tall i recommend steel. it doesn't bend ifin the sight gets danged against something hard. they can be put on round barrels.

using a remington front dovetailed sight works real good on walkers and dragoons. reshaped with a file some. the bigger guns(smaller ones too) need a good fit tight sight sos they ain't whipped off to the moon by the forces of firing. i use a mill and a 60 degree dovetail end mill cutter. i turn the sight upside down and kiss the cutter along the sides which ensures a perfect match to the angle of the dovetaild slot and the sight. if the sight is fit tight the fit is perfect dang near. stays put. being driftable helps sight the gun in to point of aim/point of impact. my old walker has been the demise of many a dang pesky wood chuck/ground hog diggin holes in the fields thanks to being able to sight in to point of aim. sorry i can't type right. one arm not working due to surgery.:banghead:
anywhoooo.....nice gun and pics Wwalstrom. take care bud.

Wwalstrom,next time i want to see some better groups because you layed off the COFFEE before shooting.