Post by Desert Rat on Oct 16, 2004 13:15:47 GMT -5
As you all know, the .58 rifled muskets will shoot quite a bit high usually with the "correct" front sight. My '61 was printing a little over 12" high at 100. And that was with the front sight WAY low in the rear sight.
What I did on mine was file the front sight flat down to the square base/bayonet lug it sits on, then slot that lug, and using a peice of copper made from a penny, silver-solder that into the slot.
I did this with Bess when I installed rifle sights, and the solder really takes nice to the steel and the copper. The copper especially seems to really bond nice and solid to the solder.
Anyhow, I then filed, sanded and steel wooled all the excess solder off, and rounded the copper blade into what I think you might call a "barley-corn" blade. ?? Re-finished the barrel.
Of course right now it's TOO tall and looks a little funny, so the next step is to go to the range and shoot-n-file until she's dead on at 100 yards. It's actually way-taller than it will need to be...but it's easier to file metal off than to add any! That copper really files fast, so that's the easy part. Of course it would be easy to take off too much, so you have to be careful when sighting in.
On Bess the copper front sight has worked well. The polished copper of the edge of the blade shows up nice in the rear sight, much better than blackened steel, but it's not as reflective as brass, polished steel or German silver would be, which to my mind is good, as that can cause sighting errors. As the sides of the blade age, it takes on a real nice look. (right now it looks kind of "loud") The "edge" of the blade can be kept polished.
This blade is also much thinner than the original sight was, and I get a much better, more precise sight picture.
Anyhow easy way to do a taller sight blade on these rifles, just thought I would "share" that.
Rat
What I did on mine was file the front sight flat down to the square base/bayonet lug it sits on, then slot that lug, and using a peice of copper made from a penny, silver-solder that into the slot.
I did this with Bess when I installed rifle sights, and the solder really takes nice to the steel and the copper. The copper especially seems to really bond nice and solid to the solder.
Anyhow, I then filed, sanded and steel wooled all the excess solder off, and rounded the copper blade into what I think you might call a "barley-corn" blade. ?? Re-finished the barrel.
Of course right now it's TOO tall and looks a little funny, so the next step is to go to the range and shoot-n-file until she's dead on at 100 yards. It's actually way-taller than it will need to be...but it's easier to file metal off than to add any! That copper really files fast, so that's the easy part. Of course it would be easy to take off too much, so you have to be careful when sighting in.
On Bess the copper front sight has worked well. The polished copper of the edge of the blade shows up nice in the rear sight, much better than blackened steel, but it's not as reflective as brass, polished steel or German silver would be, which to my mind is good, as that can cause sighting errors. As the sides of the blade age, it takes on a real nice look. (right now it looks kind of "loud") The "edge" of the blade can be kept polished.
This blade is also much thinner than the original sight was, and I get a much better, more precise sight picture.
Anyhow easy way to do a taller sight blade on these rifles, just thought I would "share" that.
Rat