Removing a front sight base on a 1905 Ross

[stoggie]

Hi,

I am trying to restore a 1905 Ross, but I need to remove the front sight base to put the bands back on the barrel.

I have removed the front sight, and the sight base set screw. According to the Ross rifle story, that is all there is holding the front sight base... but it wont budge. I have mushroomed a 5/16" brass punch trying to budge it. I have also taken a few chunks out of my hard rubber mallet by hitting it directly. She just won't go.

I have scraped all the 100 year old gunk around the seam, and have soaked it in WD-40. I haven't damaged anything yet, and am hoping someone has some pointers before I do. Does anyone have any advise?

Do gunsmiths have special tools to pull this? Would it be worthwhile to pay someone to do it?

Thanks,

Stoggie

 

[sunray]

Chances are that some bone head soldered it on at some time. Try A bit of heat with a propane torch.

 

[tiriaq]

I have a puller set for 1910 front sight bases - its been used on a number of CGN Rosses. It could probably be adapted with a sleeve to work on the smaller 1905 barrel. I will check. The deal is, you get to pay postage both ways.