replacable front sight for older Vaquero

I got this old SST polished sheriff Vaquero (45 colt), I post pics a week ago. a few of you recommended drift adjustable sight or SW type sight set for it.

I'm still practicing with it. but it shoots way low with the ammo I load. it shoots straight but I get vertical strings trying to compensate with the shinny front sight.

anyway, I can't bring myself to file the front sight down. I think I just want to change the front sight. but it would be nice if the blade was pinned or removable so I could experiment with the hight and maybe swap blades for different ammo.

can you you guys post some options?

One option would be trade it for an adjustable sight Blackhawk! :mrgreen:
Surf some a' the Custom Smith sites and get ideas from what they've done.

figure out how much of the front sight needs to cover the target then paint the back of the sight with model paint/fingernail polish just up to the point that the front sight needs to alian with the target and leave the top of the blade (the rest) alone.

Redstick":21hl7ohe said:

One option would be trade it for an adjustable sight Blackhawk! :mrgreen:
Surf some a' the Custom Smith sites and get ideas from what they've done.

Click to expand...

I have a blackhawk in the same caliber, I shoot it fine. I'm trying to get better with my vaquero.

I've surfed the custom smith sites. Bowen and clements. was hoping for more options.

and I honestly dont think paint is going to stick to the polished SST for very long. I used to paint the front sight on my WW2 sytle 1911 and the paint never really survived a cleaning.

the other option that dosnt cost alot is to get a dovetail cut. then you can change out your front sight to suite your load.

saw a nice single action at the range with a meprolight night sight off an auto (i assume). that he had filed to fit. and it looked good. actually didnt notice till he pointed it out.

shoulda been more specific on the paint. first your going to have to get high enamel like car model paint then your going to have to buff the surface of the site with 120grit. another option i like better is to make a divit at the aim point and drop a spot into it making it a dot sight.

Have you tried shooting heavier bullets?

thanks Max. maybe I'll get some newer paint.

is there a better forum to ask this question?

All of your options are going to involve cutting or pulling the front sight off, welding or screwing either a dovetailed or slotted and pinned base, then trying out different sight heights to see what works.

Or, a few strokes of the file will have that thing shooting POA. If you're just going to cut the front sight off anyway, why not try to get the sight down to where it needs to be, then measure what that height is and give that number to the smith who does the custom work?

http://www.jackweigand.com/interfs.html

Weigand removable sight, are these any good?

thnks,

If/once I have planned the replacement front sight, I will do that.

Hammerdown77":16c72be7 said:

All of your options are going to involve cutting or pulling the front sight off, welding or screwing either a dovetailed or slotted and pinned base, then trying out different sight heights to see what works.

Or, a few strokes of the file will have that thing shooting POA. If you're just going to cut the front sight off anyway, why not try to get the sight down to where it needs to be, then measure what that height is and give that number to the smith who does the custom work?

Click to expand...

where can I buy a sight like this? its a dove tail with a replaceable blade.

I know I've seen the dovetailed front sight bases somewhere, but I can't recall the website. Maybe for Smith and Wessons? Anyway, for a cheap, custom job, you could take the screw in metal sight from a Ruger Mk series (.22 semi-auto), or a single six, then have a gunsmith (or someone experienced with a mill) mill off the blade and cut a dovetail. Then you can use any of the dovetailed front sight blades for Ruger double actions or Smith and Wessons.

demo_slug":5mi4zpfj said:

where can I buy a sight like this? its a dove tail with a replaceable blade.

Click to expand...

looks like the kind of dovetail that Hamilton Bowen does. check out his book "Custom Revolvers" for sample images.

http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/CustomRevolver.htm

or take a look at this image from his site linked below:



http://www.bowenclassicarms.com/NEW/VinSAoptions.htm

.

.

Hammerdown77":ws9gpdgh said:

Anyway, for a cheap, custom job, you could take the screw in metal sight from a Ruger Mk series (.22 semi-auto), or a single six, then have a gunsmith (or someone experienced with a mill) mill off the blade and cut a dovetail. Then you can use any of the dovetailed front sight blades for Ruger double actions or Smith and Wessons.

Click to expand...

that is a good idea, I like compatablity, I'll look into it. thanks hammer.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?p ... ber=519188

Get a good caliper and place one jaw at the bottom of the barrel and the other jaw at the top of the sight to get a measurement. Write the measurement down for reference. Then shoot and file off about .010" of the top of the sight at each shooting session until you get a good zero. Then I file off a small flat portion on the rear of the sight that makes a nice flat easy to see area. File at a slight angle, leaning forward like the angle on a blackhawk sight. This removes the rounded, shiney portion on the top rear of the sight that reflects light and fools your eye. Done right, it is helps shooting and doesn't detract from the looks of the front sight.

It really isn't hard to do, just go slow, and keep every thing squared up. If you don't like the results, you were going to replace the front sight anyway. Could save alot of cash!

Fixed sight guns are best relegated to a single load. If what you want to do is experiment, you need adjustable sights. A dovetail front sight can certainly be fitted but IMHO, only fixes half the problem. After having David Clements install a dovetail front sight on my Bisley Vaquero, I just couldn't grow accustomed to it. Sent it back a few years later for his pre-war S&W style adjustable rear sight and custom base/post front. To those who say "buy a Blackhawk", believe it or not, this is not as cost-prohibitive as it would seem. It's a wash compared to cutting a barrel and installing a new front sight and actually less expensive than a Bisley conversion.

I used a Marbles "shorty" ramp on mine. I had to remove the fixed blade, then mounted the ramp in it's place (screw or silver solder it on). The ramp has a dove tail and you can mount any of the different dovetailed blades in it.
Looks a bit different, not bad...just different.........but it works like a charm.