Any of you ever made a few of your own rear rifle sights? Hints?

BCRider

BCRider

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So for a variety of reasons I've got a half dozen rifles that I want to make new rear sights to use on them. Some will be slightly odd designs and some will be more or less direct replacements where I use my time and shop instead of paying around $40 each for new replacements.

And yes, I have looked around a little for used replacements with very little luck. But for giggles I'll be posting a WTB advert in the EE as well to get a couple or three regular sights.

But that still doesn't help me with the oddball style ones I want to make.

So.... any hints or methodology you want to suggest?

Tools wise I've got a good shop for milling dovetail bar and other tricks. I've even made my own cutters. And I've got a very old wood hand saw that is long out of its prime that I'm thinking of using for the spring steel portion for the sprung elevation ramp spring.
 
Excellent spring steel in a tape measure spring, too -- nearly took my eye out with one.

JV Howe's gunsmithing books go into long detail on sight manufacture using a horizontal milling machine and lathe. May be worth checking out.
 
I've made several, the old saw blade should work well for the spring. I have riveted and/or silver braze the dovetail onto the spring. Much simpler than trying to make it integral out of thicker barstock. Small pieces of heavy angle work well for non adjustable aperture sights, and should work for the buckhorn end of a barrel mounted rear sight. Or dovetail directly into the barrel if you don't need elevation adjustment capability. Lots of ways to skin that cat.
Stomp:)
 
45stomp, interesting to read that you got away with silver soldering. I'd have thought it would make the spring too soft. So that's a good bit of information for me. I was mostly thinking of a dovetailing the ends of the spring into the dovetail and sight blocks and then peen down the sides to rivet or at that point use soft solder.

Shaping the ends won't be an issue. I've done a few rear and front sights already... .wish it were easier to post pics.... So me, my files and my big bench vise are already besties.... :D It's mostly how best to attach the leaf spring in a good solid manner that has got me out searching for hints. And to be truthful I'm still leaning towards the peened dovetails then finish filing. And perhaps a small tidy center rivet on the dovetail block. But I'm also liking the idea of carefully silver soldering one to see if my torch skills are up to it. I'll have a go on a bit of scrap steel and some saw plate spring first. I usually go way to far and end up with smaller or thinner parts glowing dull red. Then they bend like cheap card stock.

Hickstick, a good reminder. It's firmly in my mind anyway but a great reminder to any others reading this thread.
 
Dogfish858 said:
Excellent spring steel in a tape measure spring, too -- nearly took my eye out with one.

JV Howe's gunsmithing books go into long detail on sight manufacture using a horizontal milling machine and lathe. May be worth checking out.
Click to expand...

Yep, I've got a coiled up tape measure spring here and I've used some pieces for other things. It's really good spring stock as we'd imagine. It's way too thin for a sprung leaf rear sight though. The old saw plate will be a lot more suitable.
 
I have over the years made a few sights. some times literally from a block of steel sometime from stuff from my special little junk drawer.At times hand making a sight is the only option. But in my opinion with even the simplest sight 40 bucks will seem a bargain. before you are done. Making some thing out of nothing is always fun.
 
BCRider said:
Yep, I've got a coiled up tape measure spring here and I've used some pieces for other things. It's really good spring stock as we'd imagine. It's way too thin for a sprung leaf rear sight though. The old saw plate will be a lot more suitable.
Click to expand...

Yes really; I was thinking folding leaf express style sight spring. Might even be thin for that.
 
Made a few front sights out of bolts. Couple of files and a cup of coffee.
Rear sights I start with a buckhorn then file it in to what I wont. Square notch most times.
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Taller front for a ranchhand
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made up a cocking piece base for a Lyman sight stem to attach to a Lee Medford rifle
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If you have access to or can access someone that works on large reciprocating compressors, the valve springs and channels they fit into, make excellent rear sights.

They come in different lengths, widths, thickness.

I no longer have the rifle but I used the channel to make a base and modified a spring to fit inside. The spring was heated on one end, so I could bend it to an eighty degree angle and file a "U" notch into it. Then drilled two holes. One at the end and one appx 1/4 of the spring's length back from the sight end.

The hole at the end of the spring was to secure it and the hole, back near the sight end was fitted with a threaded insert on the bottom and a matching screw added to adjust elevation.

This sight was fitted into the rear sight base of a BRNO No2 rimfire. The original owner took off the rear sight to mount a scope and as usual, it disappeared.
 
Or you could go for the sublimely simple sight solution...that works but is ugly as hell!!

My first attempt at threading a tenon & chambering was a barrel blank for a #1 military Remington RB. The barrel hadn't been contoured yet but I was extremely anxious to see if it would shoot into the closest 1/4 section but sight dovetails hadn't been cut yet so, being farm raised, fancy wasn't a priority but functionality was. Solved the problem with two hose clamps. The rear one clamped a piece of spring steel load binding strapping with one end turned up and a notch ground into it (sight changes were a snap, just bend up or down), the front sight was a nail cut to length poked through one of the thread slots of the second clamp and tightened out at the bore end. I actually use that rifle for 5 more years that way before I got around to octagoning the barrel and mounting a 32" "period scope" to it.
 
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