El Vato Posted February 24 Posted February 24 (edited) Hello ladies and gentlemen. Im looking for any recommendations for a front sight tool to remove and replace dovetail sights, specifically on octagon rifle barrels? I don't want to use the brass punch method. Thankyou for your time! El Vato. Edited February 24 by El Vato Misspelling Quote
Sedalia Dave Posted February 24 Posted February 24 Wyoming Sight Drifter Works 1000% better than a hammer and punch. 1 1 Quote
WOODFOX , sass#34179 Posted February 25 Posted February 25 I use a copper punch it won't mark your sight Quote
KingSnake Posted February 25 Posted February 25 I have a Wheeler sight pusher for those times that I don’t just use a brass punch. 1 Quote
Shawnee Hills Posted February 26 Posted February 26 3 hours ago, KingSnake said: I have a Wheeler sight pusher for those times that I don’t just use a brass punch. That works great on semiauto pistol sights but how does it work on a rifle barrel that has a mag tube underneath it?? Quote
Rooster Ron Wayne Posted February 26 Posted February 26 Brass Punch Set & Brass Hammer is your friend when working on guns. Quote
SGT. ELI 35882 GUNFIGHTER Posted February 26 Posted February 26 (edited) I have Delrin, brass, aluminum punches and the Wheeler sight pusher. Most Uberti rifle sights require little effort to remove, If it was a Springfield XD a cutting torch would be needed. Edited February 26 by SGT. ELI 35882 GUNFIGHTER 1 1 Quote
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted February 26 Posted February 26 17 hours ago, WOODFOX , sass#34179 said: I use a copper punch it won't mark your sight Neither will a brass punch, the tool of most professionals I know. A calibrated sight press (like the Wheeler) is handy if you are shooting rifles with a drift sight and need to make precision adjustments at a match without a zeroing session. good luck, GJ Quote
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted February 26 Posted February 26 The problem with fitting front sights is that the barrel dovetail is a "nominal" .375. The sight has a "nominal" .375 dovetail. The problem is that in many if not most cases neither are .375 and if you try to install a .378" sight into a .373" barrel dovetail it does not matter what tool you have it is not going to work well and you are going to damage the sight. Here is what I use to install front sights on rifle barrels. A brass hammer. A homemade brass drift. And, most importantly, a dovetail file. (These only have teeth on one of the three sides.) The skinny brass punch that comes with most punch sets like the one on the right are pretty useless. Those little inertia hammer front sight installers are neat IF the two dovetails are the proper size. 1 2 Quote
Colorado Coffinmaker Posted February 26 Posted February 26 BIG Ol' PLUS ONE fer Pettifogger you betcha. Quote
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted February 26 Posted February 26 I ONLY file on the base of the sight. $30 or so. Never on the dovetail slot on a $200+ barrel. Have never had a new sight blade that I could not install with only filing on the base of the sight. good luck, GJ 2 Quote
Shawnee Hills Posted February 27 Posted February 27 Seems like Uberti's rifle dovetails are hit and miss with regards to size. I've ran across a few that would not allow the installation of a front or rear sight without widening the dovetail slot on the barrel itself. Filing the base of the sight worked until the sight bottomed out on the top of the barrel. A little work with a dovetail file on the barrel was needed to finish the job. Sedalia Dave is on point with his recommendation. The Wyoming Sight Drifter is a joy to use when working with iron sights. It would not, however, scare the sights on a S&W Shield X. Those must be installed at the factory with a 40 ton press. 1 Quote
Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 Posted February 27 Posted February 27 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Shawnee Hills said: Filing the base of the sight worked until the sight bottomed out on the top of the barrel. I found one like that. But I took a triangular file and lightly reduced one of the (angled) top sides of the sight's dovetail , and the sight went right in. No filing on the barrel slot on that one, either. Unless folks post a dovetail slot width measurement taken at the bottom of the slot (hard to do), we are really just guessing which was poorly sized. Since the barrel slots are cut with a one-piece mill cutter, and the sight bases are made with two separate mill cuts - the chances are strong that the sight base is too large. I have not found that Uberti varies the barrel dovetail slot sizes. good luck, GJ Edited February 27 by Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 1 Quote
Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 Posted February 27 Posted February 27 (edited) 3 hours ago, Garrison Joe, SASS #60708 said: I found one like that. But I took a triangular file and lightly reduced one of the (angled) top sides of the sight's dovetail , and the sight went right in. No filing on the barrel slot on that one, either. Precisely. I have found several sights that bottomed out and I only use the dovetail on a barrel if the dovetail is damaged and needs a little touch-up to get the proper shape. General rule - always file the cheapest part. Edited February 27 by Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933 3 Quote
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