MisterB Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 I have a recently built SBR, that I had a WWII front sight installed on. The gunsmith apparently soldered it. Well, it flew off while shooting and landed in two feet of snow, and I can't find it. Come spring I'll look for it, or I can buy another. Either way, it'll need to be installed again. What's the proper way to install one of these sights? There isn't a hole in the WWII sight to install a pin, so I'm not sure the best way to proceed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldtrooper Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 The sight needs to be properly pinned. I have seen the roll pins that Kahr installs on their guns come out and the sight come off during shooting. This is on my gun with the Cutts ... But the ring sight should be pinned the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adg105200 Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 You need to mill a hole in the front sight. They were not manufactured with a hole in them, that was done later during assembly. I suppose you could do it with a drill press and a proper size milling bit, but most drill press's have a small amount of lateral movement. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 You need to mill a hole in the front sight. They were not manufactured with a hole in them, that was done later during assembly. I suppose you could do it with a drill press and a proper size milling bit, but most drill press's have a small amount of lateral movement. Andrewyou'll break the drill bit every time ..........................not to mention it will walk all over and NOT drill where you want it to . milling machine and a center drill to get the hole in the front ring sight................then put it on the barrel , and now you have a guide hole to drill the barrel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin601 Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Red Loc tite is all you need, or a high temp epoxy. just make sure you line it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterB Posted January 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Thanks for responding, guys. I'm confused though. First off, why would the government supply these front sights in WWII, if they then needed to be drilled? Seems like it would have been much more efficient to have the supply of sights already drilled. Also, my sight is the standard blade sight. It isn't the compensated version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Here's the hole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adg105200 Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Thanks for responding, guys. I'm confused though. First off, why would the government supply these front sights in WWII, if they then needed to be drilled? Seems like it would have been much more efficient to have the supply of sights already drilled. Also, my sight is the standard blade sight. It isn't the compensated version.Pinning a M1 or a comp to a barrel is the same procedure. You don't want a hole already in either of them. You mill a new hole through the barrel and sight at the same time so there is no chance of making a pre-existing hole in the sight too big/egg-shaped. It is possible to do it with a ww2 take-off sight, but my guess is you would have to mill it a bit bigger when installing. Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 It breaks thru so that the top of barrel gets drilled so a pin holds it in place Best and original method to secure front sight be it ring or cutts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterB Posted January 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Here's the holeThanks so much. I would imagine this hole is only on one side of the sight? How far in to the barrel does the barrel hole need to be drilled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 the print doesn't really give a dimension for the hole it just shows the hole and says "at assembly" but basically the hole is centered front to rear and the c/l of hole is equal to or just a skosh below the top of the diameter for the barrel hole . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldtrooper Posted January 8, 2018 Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Thanks for responding, guys. I'm confused though. First off, why would the government supply these front sights in WWII, if they then needed to be drilled? Seems like it would have been much more efficient to have the supply of sights already drilled. Also, my sight is the standard blade sight. It isn't the compensated version.The sights were pinned on during manufacturing they did not come needing to be pinned. I don't know why they sell replacement ring sights not drilled for the pin ... Probably a QC issue to avoid misaligned holes between the sight ring and the cut in the top of the barrel. I would contact Dan Block (deerslayer on this sight) He installed the cutts on my replacement barrel and pinned it. He's a very qualified Thompson smith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterB Posted January 8, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2018 Thanks everybody! This is all starting to make sense. They (at least this is how I see it) couldn't drill the hole in the barrel for the pin, until after the barrel was installed, because then they needed to line up the front sight with the rear sight so the rifle fired straight, and every barrel likely lined up slightly differently once threaded on all the way. Once they got the barrel screwed on, and the sight lined up with the rear sight, they could drill and pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adg105200 Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I have a few take-off front sights. One looks like it has been reused a few too many times. Also, for those who want to know the hole diameter is .1405". I also measured an original pin which mic'd at .1400 Andrew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterB Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I have a few take-off front sights. One looks like it has been reused a few too many times. Also, for those who want to know the hole diameter is .1405". I also measured an original pin which mic'd at .1400 IMG_20180108_191720.jpg AndrewGreat info. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halftrack Posted January 15, 2018 Report Share Posted January 15, 2018 A drill press works fine if you install the sight on first and use lock-tite to hold in place. Use low rpms on the drill press. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterB Posted January 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I still can't find my WWII sight. It's now in 3 feet of snow It's got me thinking... I still have the original 16" Kahr barrel, and it has the sight attached. Can this sight be removed and used on the short barrel? It's already drilled, so it would be a little easier. The gunsmith would just need to drill in to the barrel and insert a pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paladin601 Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 A drill press works fine if you install the sight on first and use lock-tite to hold in place. Use low rpms on the drill press. why pin it, if you are using loctite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldtrooper Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 I would avoid using half measures such as lock-tite and pin it as it should be ... If lock-tite was permanent I would have never been able to unscrew my barrel ... Lock-tite is an aid not a fix ... Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 The sight from your 16 inch barrel will work fine But sometimes they are PRESSED on then pinned it can be a pain coming off and damage usually results to the ring sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanvock Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Is the sight blade height shorter on the comp? Mine shoots WAY low so I thought I might be able to swap to one instead of cutting down the ring blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 (edited) I just now measured this for you ................... a ring sight is the same height as an original Cutts compensator .using a dial caliper and eyballing to center of barrelI get basically 1.050 on either , to the top of the blade from center of barrel and that is the dimension that is also on the print for the front sight 1.050 Edited January 16, 2018 by 95mustang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
halftrack Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 (edited) In reference to Paladin's question. I would use the lock-tite to hold the sight steady while drilling the hole. I guess you still don't need a pin if using lock-tite, but I didn't just want a empty hole there either. The hole in the compensator is the drill guide. It worked perfect for mine without marring up the compensator or barrel. I had one barrel where the compensator was torqued to the correct alignment and a pinned was never needed. Just lucky on that one I guess. Edited January 18, 2018 by halftrack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanvock Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 Thanks 95mustang, looks like I'll be grinding on what's there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95mustang Posted January 16, 2018 Report Share Posted January 16, 2018 @ vanrock the MATH says that if you remove .010 of an inch from the top of post you will raise impact on paper at 50 YARDS by 1 inch I'd use a file myself.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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