Demand for Garand sights?
- Thread starter asphalt599
- Start date
Selecting and maintaining Garand/M14 rear sights
When fitting the sights try to find a base/ aperture combo with minimal side play. Tighter is better and you can get this by selective fitting. The fit of the rear sight cover is also important. You need to look for a rear sight cover which will give some springback to the base and aperture when they are installed.
Use plenty of grease when installing the sights. This prevents wear and contributes to a tighter fit. It is very important to grease the rib on the inside of the sight cover where it bears against the aperture. Also grease the "foot" of the base where it contacts the receiver(you see the finish worn off at this point on the receiver). Other grease points are the inner faces of the elevation and windage knobs where they bear against the receiver. Also grease the holes in the receiver "ears" where the 2 knobs rotate. Grease the teeth on the elevation pinion and the aperture and the sides and bottom of the aperture where it moves up and down in the base.
The screw in the center of the elevation knob should be good and tight. Grasp the knob in a leather or otherwise padded vicegrip or pliers so it is stationary then tighten the center screw with a properly fitted screwdriver.
When fitting the sights try to find a base/ aperture combo with minimal side play. Tighter is better and you can get this by selective fitting. The fit of the rear sight cover is also important. You need to look for a rear sight cover which will give some springback to the base and aperture when they are installed.
Use plenty of grease when installing the sights. This prevents wear and contributes to a tighter fit. It is very important to grease the rib on the inside of the sight cover where it bears against the aperture. Also grease the "foot" of the base where it contacts the receiver(you see the finish worn off at this point on the receiver). Other grease points are the inner faces of the elevation and windage knobs where they bear against the receiver. Also grease the holes in the receiver "ears" where the 2 knobs rotate. Grease the teeth on the elevation pinion and the aperture and the sides and bottom of the aperture where it moves up and down in the base.
The screw in the center of the elevation knob should be good and tight. Grasp the knob in a leather or otherwise padded vicegrip or pliers so it is stationary then tighten the center screw with a properly fitted screwdriver.
Are these metric or imperial marked? Used or uninstalled surplus? Make?
USGI or Italian (Beretta/Breda) parts? Or, are they new, modern reproduction?
- Location
- Tucson, Arizona
Story of my Garand. $35 but it came out of the Phillipines with no wood, No rear sight, and a barrel like five miles of bad road
Our unit still had a rifle team so the armourer provided me with the sights and a replacement bolt. (Bolt lug cracked) A friend got a M1 from the DCM and he wanted to convert it to .308 so I got his "new" 30-06 barrel and the armourer installed it for me. A Bishop stock and I was good to go. Now it ain't "all original" but then any rifle that actualy saw service most likely had parts replaced while the government owned it.
Since my rifle , as I said, came out of the Phillipines, I would guess it probably sent a few "sons of heaven" on a one way trip to the Yasakuni Shrine in a little white box
Our unit still had a rifle team so the armourer provided me with the sights and a replacement bolt. (Bolt lug cracked) A friend got a M1 from the DCM and he wanted to convert it to .308 so I got his "new" 30-06 barrel and the armourer installed it for me. A Bishop stock and I was good to go. Now it ain't "all original" but then any rifle that actualy saw service most likely had parts replaced while the government owned it.
Since my rifle , as I said, came out of the Phillipines, I would guess it probably sent a few "sons of heaven" on a one way trip to the Yasakuni Shrine in a little white box
Hopefully the ones asphalt599 is bringing in are Breda Garand sights. I've had all sorts of Garand and M14 bits. All perfectly functional, but if there is no historical significance of matching parts, I find the Italians did great on fit/finish....and rightly so, in the case of the Garand stuff, they weren't made during a war.
They are a mix of american and italian made. I would think they are imperial since the rifle they are from was not a metric caliber. I can't say for sure that they are uninstalled surplus but they are all in excellent condition. Hope that helps
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You can expect a mix of US/Italian made components. The ones I got were all servicable and with good finish. All of these are made to SAE specs to be compatible with the US rifles and parts. A BM59 elevation pinion will also work, altho they are graduated in meters like the original M14 units.
I don't own a Norinco, but the early ones were made to metric specs and sight components weren't usable with US spec components. There is a caution on this in Kuhnhausen's Shop Manual.
I don't own a Norinco, but the early ones were made to metric specs and sight components weren't usable with US spec components. There is a caution on this in Kuhnhausen's Shop Manual.
i believe you are correct. I don't think you can mix and match US and chinese sight parts. As long as you replace the whole sight assembly it works well.
Actually, you can mix chinese and US parts for sight assemblies. I can't speak on possible variants of Chinese assemblies with metric threads but the ones I have tried are correct imperial threads such that the sight base will accept the windage knob and the windage knob accepts the elevation knob threads.
- Location
- Steel Town
You can and I did it. I used the 2009 Polytech sight block with post war Beretta M1 aperature, pinion and elevation knobs. Ironically, the Italian sight block that came as a complete kit had a non-compatible thread pattern. Its now hanging on my keychain.
whenindoubtfixit
CGN Regular
- Location
- Eastern Bantario
Thanks asphalt599. Quicker than I thought, always nice when that happens.
No problem. I was being cautious with the original time frame. I didn't want to upset anyone if they took longer than expected as they were coming from a long way. Definately nice they showed up this quick.
