Making some rifle sights for a bear defense shotgun

Gatehouse

Gatehouse

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With all this bear defense talk, I decided it was time to get some rifle sights for my 14" barrel shotgun, so I thought I'd make some.

HEck, if Ardent can build a while rifle with a file and saw, the least I can do is make some sights right? (Well, I'm not nearly as skilled as Ardent, but I'm off to a decent start.
:)

Start with block of steel

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Rough cut

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Making bottom round to sit on barrel

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Filing out the shape

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Drilling scrw holes on drill press

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FIling down one side of the blade

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Other side

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ROugh shaped out blade

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I taped it onto barrel to check it out

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So now to build the rear sight and then buy a drill and tap set and some long sight base screws, drill and tap the reciever and barrel and then I'll shoot the gun, make adjustments with file as needed, then once it's good I will sand, polish and cold blue.

Haven't done anything like this since shop class in highschool, it's pretty fun.:happygrin:
 
If I wanted to buy some I would have bought some really good ones for $150, from Brownells. :D

If I compare time at work to make money to buy sights to time spent with a file, I 'm definitely losing out.:p
 
The block of steel would have been enough, just point and shoot.

Everyone knows you don't have time to aim in a bear defense situation anyways:D


Nice job. but is it not easier to just by these for under $20?
Click to expand...

Sometimes a MAN needs to do it himself, even if it appears the least logical route on paper.
 
Looks awesome, since its a bear defense gun, a 1 round extension could prove usefull, incase there's more bears or you miss.
 
Here is as far as I have got with the rear sight.

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I'm thinking I could shape it more and tap it, and screw in a spare XS ghost ring sight i have, and lock it in place with a set screw form the side. This woudln't help much for windage adjustments.

Or I could try cutting a dovetail slot in and using a blade blank and filing it to mach elevation (that is what Ardent did on his rifle, he pmed me the link to the place to buy one) This woudl give me a good "V" notch sight.

Or if I got really ambitious, I could try to cut the dovetail slot and make or buy a dovetail insert, drill and tap it for the ghost ring sight I have and then I'd have a windage and elevation adjustable rear sight.

On the other hand, I'm never really going to be shooting this past 50 yards, so maybe a fixed sight would be fine.:p
 
Nice Post, Gatehouse, --- Looking Good !! ------ Right in the middle of doing something along the same lines, for a Pump that I,m cutting down for the same, " bear defence " maybe a brass insert , for the front blade not sure, as for the rear, V notch or ghost , unsure as well ?? !! Like to see how your turns out, ----- Nice work !!
 
I love it when people throw off the assumption that everything has to come from a catalog, and take a step back. It's all doable, just need to put in the work like Gate. People seem to have forgotten that saving forty bucks means something if you can do it yourself, and hey, there's a lot to be said about doing it yourself in general. Plus you get just what you want, and get to work on your gun, which usually proves enjoyable. Nice work!
 
Good for you on doing it yourself. I have made and improvised things all my life. I have made sights, altered sights, as well as many aspects of handloading, to say nothing of adding to and altering my quad, truck and on and on.
When a son borrows my truck I tell them, "Look, if you need a tool, or some equipment when you're out, look for it. If you don't find it, it means you haven't looked in all the compartments."
Never mind the people that tell you to just buy your sights. People that say this just can't savy the satisfaction achieved from using your own equipment.
Having said all that Gate, I think you will have trouble trying to drill and tap the front of the barrel. The barrel is too thin to do a good job on. If you were sure you never wanted to take the front sight off, you could put it on, permanently, with a good epoxy, like JB Weld.
Or, ordinary old 60-40 tin and lead solder would also do it. Perfectly clean, then tin both surfaces and some heat will put it permanently on. It could easily be rmoved, if you later wanted to.
 
I was going to screw the sight down and use STEEL BED to add some extra insurance. It's like JB- Weld only stronger. I figured the barrel would be okay to drill and tap because bead sites are screwed in and I've seen some other shotgun sights that are screwed on.....But that's a good point, and I've been wondering about that since I started.:confused:

I've never done any soldering on guns, just plumbing, but I guess it's the same procedure? Clean, some flux, clamp parts together and heat up with torch and apply some solder? Be important not to overheat the barrel I think!:D

Maybe a soldering iron is more applicable?
 
Best soldering connections are made by fluxing and tinning each piece, the cleaned off barrel and the sight, before hand. The tinning is just a very thin layer of solder, adhering to the piece.
Then get the sight held in place with pressure, and apply heat, I would use a small propane torch. The sight would take more heat, so I would concentrate the heat on the sight. When molten solder oozes from the joint, take away the heat and job is finished.
 
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