Taking out old Iron sights

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brandon6976

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Hey guys I have an older hunting rifle that I received from my grandfather. He used to hunt with it and had a small 2x scope on it. I bought a newer scope for it however the iron sight is stopping me from mounting it literally by a couple mm at most.

So I was looking at it and it looks like something that is either glued or hammered in but I don't want to go doing something and damaging the gun. It's not the best picture but I took a close up of the sight on the gun (pic below). Does anyone have any advice if this can just be tapped out or is there something more to it ?

DSC_0059.JPG
 
It is dovetailed, so it should be removable. They are usually just held in place because of the tight fit. Many European sights drift from-right-to-left while American sights drift from-left-to-right.

Make sure there is nothing else used to retain the sight. Secure the rifle, use a brass punch to drift the sight.

The sights do appear to fold down, that may give enough room to mount the scope.
 
thanks for the reply. when you say drift right-to-left and left-to-right do you mean it'll only go in and out in one direction ?

As well I did fold them down unfortunately it was folded down where I was just needing that extra mm or so.
 
MadDog said:
Yes, they only come out in one direction, thats why they're called dovetails.

Are you sure you can't just get higher rings?
Click to expand...

since when were dovetails called dovetails because they only worked in one direction?
 
brandon6976 said:
When you say drift right-to-left and left-to-right do you mean it'll only go in and out in one direction ?
Click to expand...

There is a very slight taper, this is meant to help keep the sight tight and and leave an aesthetically pleasing joint between the two pieces.

If you drift the sight in the wrong direction, the sight will usually come out but also deform the sight or base slightly.
 
Sights

Lodi said:
There is a very slight taper, this is meant to help keep the sight tight and and leave an aesthetically pleasing joint between the two pieces.

If you drift the sight in the wrong direction, the sight will usually come out but also deform the sight or base slightly.
Click to expand...

Then how do you adjust them if they only move one way?
 
The sight moves both right and left. A slight taper is all that is there, most people are unaware of this and use the bigger hammer theory to remove sights.

In addition to drifting, the notch can also be adjusted to change point-of-impact.
 
yeah i see there is a notch in it where it lines up with a notch on the gun, as well the iron sight seems to hang off the right side of the gun ever so slightly where i assume that means I would use the punch on the left side to push it off the right. It's an old FN Mauser deluxe that's made somewhere between 1947 and 1963
 
To figure out which way to drift it, use a vernier to measure one side to the other, one will be a few thou smaller, drift from the small side to get it out. As left to right, right to left, in or out, american, european is confusing in my simple mind. Keep it simple stupid is the way I like things.
 
I like the idea of folding the leafs over.
If the scope clears, you will always have the sights in case of
scope failure.
Pull the scope and you're still in business.
 
High rings are a poor trade off if you loose a close cheek weld, particularly older rifles which have a low comb to optimize sighting with irons. I'll never own another rifle that requires me to balance the bottom of my chin on top of the comb in order to see through the scope.
 
rgv said:
since when were dovetails called dovetails because they only worked in one direction?
Click to expand...

I was always lead to believe that the dovetail part of the sight was the way it fit into the slot of the barrel and dovetails so it will only go in one way and not the other, hence making it a dovetail. Not because of the shape of the bottom of the sight looking at it from the side.

Educate me if I'm incorrect, please.
 
MadDog said:
I was always lead to believe that the dovetail part of the sight was the way it fit into the slot of the barrel and dovetails so it will only go in one way and not the other, hence making it a dovetail. Not because of the shape of the bottom of the sight looking at it from the side.

Educate me if I'm incorrect, please.
Click to expand...

From what I've learned, right or wrong, the shape is called "dovetail" and the sight cut is a "tapered dovetail".

Open to correction if this is not right.
 
Actually appears that you have a clasic FN sporter. A fine quality rifle that has become collectible. Rather than remove the sight I would opt for slightly higher rings to maintain the originality of the rifle. Or a scope that didn't conflict. If you do remove the sight don't damage it and don't lose it.
 
rgv said:
since when were dovetails called dovetails because they only worked in one direction?
Click to expand...

MadDog said:
I was always lead to believe that the dovetail part of the sight was the way it fit into the slot of the barrel and dovetails so it will only go in one way and not the other, hence making it a dovetail. Not because of the shape of the bottom of the sight looking at it from the side.

Educate me if I'm incorrect, please.
Click to expand...

as bmi said, any joint that is dovetailed in cross-section is a dovetail.

If it is tapered in plan view, then it it simply a tapered dovetail.

My initial post now, that I re-read it came out a bit rude and wasn;t meant that way. I need to read before hitting submit.
 
To remove the sight from your FN you will drift the sight left to right As for collectors value unless it is higher grade rifle and absolutely mint it is just another used hunting rifle . $450-$650.
 
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