Taller front sight on Colt

[BowerR64]

Ill try and explain how i made it.

A while back i lost the little plate from my brass frame Remington target model. The little plate that has a notch in it you can slide back and forth. I found a little package of thin brass strips and i cut one and fixed the Remington. With the left over i decided to try and make a taller front sight on my Colt. I started with the brass frame 1860 i have because i wasnt as woried about screwing it up if i did. Its so thin i knew i wouldnt be able to just replace it so insted i thought maybe i could just put something over it and build it up a little taller.

I use a little block of wood and i bend it square with the sides, fold it over and cut the second side level with the first. I used the fine emry cloth to even and level both sides. I used a small file and i roughed up the stock front sight a little so the new sight will stick good to the stock one.

I mixed up some JB quick weld and attached the little section of the folded brass plate over the stock one. The left over JB weld i kinda filled in any pockets on the front and back. After the JB weld cures (around 10 minutes) i use a little grinding drum on my dremel to give it a little shape. I have a smaller one i used for shaping closer to the barrel. Clean up the JB weld with the blade or a finger nail.

Model masters has a color of paint called "brass" (#4672) i found to be pretty darn close to the same color as these little strips i have. The JB weld i just left it raw with the larger grit of the barrel sander i think gives it a rough metal look. Once its painted i think it kinda looks like unpolished brass the stock sights kinda look like this on the top.

 

[BowerR64]

I used the small jewler file to clean up the edges where the grinding drum tears up the edges of the brass.

The center one is the first one i made i used pliers to fold the metal and it tore it up a little more then the last 2 i made. I will remake it some day

Yeah they arnt stock or historicly correct but they look ok in my eyes and are fairly easy to make with cheap tools.

I normally shoot at 15 yards so this brings down the point of impact where i dont have to cut up the rear sight (hammer) as much and the best part is with a pair of pliers and a little pulling you can simply tear the sight off if you want to sell it or go back to the stock front sight. Its not a permanent modification to the gun.

I took these 4 to the range sunday. Using 20g 2F T7 in all 4 the Remington is pretty much good the 51 i thought i had dialed in not sure what happened to it wind maybe? Earplug on the end is my attempt to keep moisture out of the barrel keep the oil in.

The steel frame 60 Euroarms has the stock front sight and it was shooting way high and off the paper. The brass frame 60 is a little closer to point of aim (6:00 hold)

 

[Pulp]

I lost the front sight on mine, so I just cut down an Oklahoma quarter and glued it into the slot with JB Weld. Yours looks good!

 

[Dframe]

Looks like a clever way to get your gun shooting to point of aim, while still keeping a period flavor to the looks. VERY NICE job.

 

[Rick R]

Nice low-dough fix! I may give that a try on my 1860.

 

[BowerR64]

I lost the front sight on mine, so I just cut down an Oklahoma quarter and glued it into the slot with JB Weld. Yours looks good!

I havnt tried to pull the stock sight off any of these yet. I thought about trying on the remington but i havnt done it yet.

If i ever have one fall off ide try a key or something a little thicker. So far these seem to be holding up ive shot the CVA brass frame 60 about 50 shots threw it and its still on there pretty solid.

The one i pulled off was on pretty well i had to use pliers to get a good enough grip on it to yank it off.

 

[Acorn Mush]

Nice job on your sights!

If you want to remove the epoxied-on sight, try heating it up to about 350 degrees. The epoxy should then be soft enough to allow for easy removal. You can use a heat gun or even your kitchen oven for a heat source.

 

[Captain*kirk]

HC or not.....I like it! Having a gun that won't shoot POA is OK if that's the ONLY one you have...but trying to remember which one shoots where is a PITA and usually results in a lot of wasted lead. Good job, and thanks for sharing the process!

 

[Hellgate]

Bower,
You have restored my faith in mankind. I always have admired practical (and most importantly) CHEAP solutions to common gun problems. Everybody likes to "play doctor" (in this case gunsmith) and you've showed us how. Great pics and explanation for DIY types. You've added credibility to the saying "Italian replicas make gunsmiths of us all".

 

[BowerR64]

I guess I don't understand why you would raise the front sight. If it was shooting high then you would deepen the notch on the rear sight and file the top of the hammer. That's the way it should and has been done since the guns were made. That tall front sight looks a little "silly" to me.

I dont know im not as good as you i guess.

This is 15 yards, how much do you figured ide have to remove from the rear to get it to point of aim? (stock euro arms 1860)

This is even with a 6:00 hold (green dot) (each square on the target is 1" square")

 

[jgh4445]

My 1860 now sports a taller front sight. I like to sight in at 25 yds. The Italians made these guns to be replicas of the original Colts etc. They were set up with front sights that were regulated for a 75 to 100 yd shot at a cavalry man and/or his horse. That is why they shoot so high for those of us who want POA and POI to be the same at much shorter yardages. To get them to shoot POA by filing on the hammer only, I imagine you end up with an almost hammer less 1860.

 

[Hellgate]

I've ground down a lot of Colt hammers to lower the rear sight. You often either run out of hammer or the barrel starts showing and you can't do enough on the hammer end. I think the sights look great. Beats having to machine or file a dovetail like on many originals I've seen or solder in a half dime, etc.

 

[BowerR64]

To get them to shoot POA by filing on the hammer only, I imagine you end up with an almost hammer less 1860.

That is kinda what i figured also.

The one i have pictured euro arms is taller then many others ive seen and it still shoots 5" high and im only shooting 26 grains of 2F wich IMO already feels really light.

I figured if i wanted to "file" the rear down so it shoots 5" lower i wouldnt have much of a hammer.

 

[IROCZ]

My 1970 Euroarms .36 Navy came with a tall front sight and it shoots point of aim at 25 yards. Nice work Bower.

 

[jaxenro]

Colt's Colts did. Look at a pic of Sam's personal 1851's sometime they have taller front sites. Then again his weren't set up for combat and sighted in at 100 yards

 

[Willie Sutton]

Wayne-O Pard,

Ya'll are freshly dropped in the field and not yet licked clean here. We don't know you from Adam. Ya'll might be a black powder guru or a pietta-brasser slingin' poseur. Feel free to come and join in at the cracker barrel, and do so with a smile and you'll be welcomed no matter what. So far ya'll have been a bit gauche in your address to the fellas if I might point it out. Many of the other pards, Bower included, have been friendly fellas to each other for many years and we have a few rules we follow. We don't shout by typing in all capitals, and we generally don't use unhappy words towards our fellow pards when commenting on their contributions.

Bower's been a workin' on his shootin' irons for a good while, and sharin' his successes and failures. We've been amused at times and impressed at others. He's a contributor and a friend to many here. So let him have his fun and if you want to share your thoughts to keep him pluggin' away at his files and reamers, help the man out with friendly coachin'. If you don't have constructive words, it might be best to tuck your thumbs into yer suspenders and watch and not say nothin'. Feel free to spit, just not on the floor. Just frontier manners, so to speak.

So:

Be a friendly pard to make a friend here. No sense trendin' towards harshness. I 'spect that if ya'll don't get a good solid case-o-politeness towards your fellow shooters here, you'll not be 'round too long at the campfire, and nobody wants that.


With that said, since yer a new fella in town, why don't ya'll post a little introduction about yourself so's we can get to know ya. Say howdy and make a few friends here.



Willie

.

 

[jaxenro]

No need to go with the flow you could have either refrained from commenting or simply said it wasn't how you would do it. Big difference between saying something like "I would have done this" instead of "you didn't even try"

 

[[email protected]]

The homemade sights I made for my Remington back in 1976. I put the rear on
with JB Weld, the front, solder. I sawed both these out.

 

[BowerR64]

The homemade sights I made for my Remington back in 1976. I put the rear on
with JB Weld, the front, solder. I sawed both these out.

I like that!

Is that before they came out with the target models? or did they already have those out at the time?

I seem to have better luck sighting in with square sights like that. A square front post with a square rear notch really helps me.

 

[bubba15301]

BowerR64 how tall is that front sight?

 

[IROCZ]

Wayne-o, This is the High Road. We conduct our self's as Ladies and Gentlemen. Take Mr. Suttons advice, read a little and understand that this is a friendly chat kind of place. It's fine to disagree, It's how you do it.

 

[bubba15301]

Wayne-o i would rather install a taller front sight than file the hammer

 

[BowerR64]

BowerR64 how tall is that front sight?

Well this is the only one ive shot since i put the taller front sight on. It looks like its about .280" but the rear i have cut down a little and its still a little high.

The other 2 i havnt shot yet and they are a little taller but the rear notch hasnt been modified from factory.

This one is .315"

foam ear plug to keep moisture out

 

[BowerR64]

Here's a picture of my hammer on the 1851. I deepened and opened the notch. Then at the range you start removing a little at a time from the top of the hammer till you get point of aim.

Here's a video, from my friend Mike. I do it exactly the same way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPffq2pbggY&list=PLHljRs6NHyZlhvgzIWQYFCu2KqN9jHHMw

Humm that isnt as much as i thought you would have to take off.

His was only high 4" mine is like 5-6"

Did you guys do anything to the frame other then the arbor shim?

Thats 15 yards? Mikes video didnt mention his distance.

 

[jgh4445]

Neither do I. I was 13 inches high off a bench at 25 yds with a 454 RB and 30 gr of Goex 2F. That is my preferred load. You simply cannot remove enough hammer to overcome that. I did, remove the hammer to the point I thought I was gonna go too far...still 8 inches high. Uberti 1860 BTW.