"Staking" of front site?

Shelldrake

Shelldrake

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I have a Lyman Deerstalker that had the front site drop off. It is dove-tailed in,, but was just too loose and it popped out.

Anyway,, can someone recommend which kind of tool I should use to "stake" in the front site? I have some steel punches, but am not sure if that will do the job or not.

Any thoughts, before I start hammering away?
 
I think the proper punch to use is called a pin punch. This will make a shallow indent, 'staking' the front sight into position. You can also use a flat punch and close up the dovetail on the barrel with the front sight installed but this requires more work. With the latter, you can always tap the sight from side to side and still retain tension since you have worked more of the dovetail. Staking will only give you tension on that small point. If you move the front sight, usually you will have to stake it again.

You may want to use a flat punch to close up the dovetail (with front sight installed), tap the front sight to where you want and then stake it in place with a pin punch. With all of this, support the barrel on something really solid so the strikes are sure and true. Start gently, just tapping until you get the results you want.

Ripstop
 
Pin punch for a dove tail
I collect m1 carbines they used a pin punch to stake the rear sights in the dove tail 6 + million rifles cant be wrong!
 
To tighten up a standard dovetailed front sight, you can remove the sight and use a centre punch to make marks in the bottom of the dovetail slot where they won't show. I guess you could even mark the bottom of the sight so that you aren't damaging the gun.
 
Not being a gunsmith, the thought of raising the material on which the front sight would sit didn't occur to me. Excellent idea. Not only do you close up the dovetail, but you don't have to worry about marking up the finish on the barrel. If you raise the surface too much, do you just drive the front sight in harder or would you try to file down the high spots to increase clearance?

Ripstop
 
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