Rear sight question

[Midnite Jack]

Does anyone know if this will fit the dovetail on an Uberti 1866 carbine?

 

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/323720/marbles-sporting-rear-sight-carbine-style-1-7-8-short-blade-full-buckhorn-with-double-step-elevator-300-to-510-height-steel-blue

 

Thanks

 

MJ

[Tom Bullweed]

My Ubertis have come with 10mm sight dovetails. The 10mm is .394" and is slightly more than the standard 3/8 (.375"). A good gunsmith can recut the dovetail and open it slightly to make the sight fit.

[Rio Brazos Kid]

Tom Bullweed has his figures mixed up a bit, but the narrative is correct.

 

The dovetails of the Uberti's and other European replica's have dovetails that are too narrow for Standard Marbles sights. Standard width for sight dovetails in the USA is 3/8 inch, or .375 thousands of an inch.

 

I ran into this just last week. Had a Chippa Firearms 1892 reproduction that came through Taylors & Co. Had a broken rear sight. Marbles would not fit, without re-cutting the dovetails to .375.

 

So yes, the marbles sights will work, with a little gunsmithing. However the marbles are far and away a superior sight to the original that came on the gun.

 

RBK

[Abilene, SASS # 27489]

I have always heard to cut or file on the less expensive part. I just file the bottom of the new sight a bit and it fits in the Uberti dovetail.

 

Regarding the OP's question, I think the sight you linked to is too long to fit in the carbine dovetail unless you install it backwards. At least on the carbines I've seen, the dovetail is very close to the receiver. I don't know if newer carbines have the dovetail moved forward or not. Nate Kiowa Jones has a couple on this page that will fit the carbine: http://store.stevesgunz.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=22

[Guest Jess Money]

"..I have always heard to cut or file on the less expensive part. I just file the bottom of the new sight a bit and it fits in the Uberti dovetail.."

 

+1....... and always insert the sight from the right side.

 

I just did this for the front sight of my new Uberti. Since the base of the sight is tapered toward the top, rubbing the bottom of the sight base across a coarse Arkansas stone, or emery cloth laid on a flat surface, works to reduce the width of the base as you remove metal. Keep checking as you work. When you reach a certain point, the dovetail will fit the factory dovetail. It still should be tight enough to require a drift to position it. Remove it again and polish the base of the sight on a smooth stone or fine automotive sandpaper to help prevent rusting of the raw metal. You may want to use some cold bluing to help, too.