Alaskan sight jiggles

[Anonymous]

My Alaskan 44m has the stock rear sight. There's a small pin that the sight pivots on for elevation adjustment and that pin is prone to slide side to side after a few rounds.

Before I get all shade tree on this I thought I'd ask. Should I do some micro-peening on the ends to hold it it? Would a too soft of a spring beneath it back off the tension needed to hold it in place?

 

[David Bradshaw]

Push out loose sight pin with a paper clip or thin drift, leaving the drift pin in place to secure sight. Very slightly flatten one end of pin and push into place. If you need to tap the pin the last little bit, it should hold on its own. Don't hit steel against steel on the topstrap. If you don't have a small drift, tap in with a brass hammer or the edge of a penny.
David Bradshaw

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds reasonable. I guess I only need to fatten up one end of the pin. Thanks.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

You can do that or you can bend the pin a little or you can use a little LocTite on it.

 

[contender]

You can peen it as suggested above,, or like many of us,, we tap it out about 1/3rd of the way, tap it sideways to add a slight bend & then tap it back in.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the tips. Those Full Gospel 44mag loads will loosen up anything that's not nailed down.

 

[660griz]

I have the same issue with my GP100. Except it is the entire rear sight that moves side to side. Probably should check yours. It may be the sight that is sliding the pin out. My Alaskan .454 doesn't move...yet. The rear sight on the GP just doesn't fit snug enough in the slot. The pin should provide a pivot only. Preventing side to side should be in the machining process or a set screw, like some aftermarkets. I know the bending and flattening will lessen the movement when tried by hand. I just can't believe the sight will still not move under the violent explosions of a round. Thoughts? Am I missing something? i have written Ruger asking if they have a fix, etc. No response yet. The fixes I have found are, the ones noted here. Bend it, etc. or replace it.

 

[David Bradshaw]

Unfortunately, the rear sight slot can be generous, allowing sight wiggle. Remove sight. Place sight upside down on anvil, or similar hard plate. I use a 1" brass plate. Centerpunch each side of the tang----as close to rear of sight as possible on the tang----to slightly flare. Try sight in sight boss (topstrap). Sight should move freely up-and-down. Windage wobble should be eliminated, or nearly so.

Don't forget to grease or oil adjustment screws. In competition, dry screws wear out.
David Bradshaw

 

[660griz]

Thanks David. I'll give that a try. Worse case, I buy a new sight which I would have to do anyway.

 

[David Bradshaw]

660griz... Replacing rear sight with a duplicate may mean you have two wiggly sights. In stead of smoke issuing from the muzzle of your GP 100, you'll have smoke coming out your ears. If you insist on spending loot, send it to Hamilton Bowen for his target type rear sight.

I have had great success with Millett on Smith & Wesson revolvers. Not up to date on aftermarket options... Want to go whole hog? Have the rear sight boss milled for a Bo-Mar, or a contemporary Bo-Mar copy. Check the Brownell's catalog for options.
Good luck,
David Bradshaw

 

[660griz]

Yes. I was going to purchase the Rough Country sights from Bowen. I'll try the smithing first.

Purchase another sight from Ruger never crossed my mind unless they respond that they have machined one with tighter tolerances and I am sure that is not going to happen.

 

[David Bradshaw]

Don't know how the Ruger rear sight is made. (It is a copy of the steel Micro found on early Rugers.) It behaves like aluminum when staked with a centerpunch. By flaring the sides on the bottom with a centerpunch, you effectively widen the sight. Often, a loose factory sight loads to one side----resets----with the result that the sight is "loads" to the left or right, depending on the individual sight and the slant of elevation spring, or the slot in the sight boss. To put it country simple, despite the wobble, the rear sight ends up where it was the last time you pulled the trigger.

I am suggesting tricks that I have tried. In the lusty days of IHMSA silhouette, it was illegal to alter any part of a Production gun except trigger and hammer engagement surfaces. The trigger and hammer springs could be cut or bent (nobody in his or her right mind weakened a hammer spring), but that was it. One could bend a sight spring to make sure the sight reset to one side, but rotating the spring usually accomplished that, as most are not "square."

If the gun is shooter, excellent lockwork and accuracy, you keep the revolver and make the sight behave.
David Bradshaw

 

[David Bradshaw]

As for the loosening of screws on .44 magnum revolvers, it plagues both Ruger and S&W. Ruger introduced the nylock screws precisely to resist the vibration of recoil. The nylock screws hold until the revolver is disassembled a couple of times, after which they loosen. Front grip frame screw loosens first.

Blue Loctite, which requires less heat to break than red Loctite, was used by many silhouetters. A smart magnum shooter checks grip frame and ejector housing screws often. You don't want the ejector flying off. I do not like a Ruger barrel shorter than 4-5/8", a Colt or Freedom Arms barrel shorter than 4-3/4", as the short ejector must be removed----in order to remove the cylinder. Amounts to a headache each time and beau coups wear and tear on the ejector housing screw.

Every once in a while check the cylinder pin retainer on a single action. I make up a little spanner screwdriver for that. Fingernail polish is a better-than-nothing alternative to Loctite, which allows for ready servicing in the field.

On the S&W, check sideplate screws, rear sight retaining screw, and thumbpiece screw.

Always press gun firm against a non-marking hard surface to check to tighten or remove screws. Push screwdriver before turning. To start a small screw, gently turn counterclockwise until threads "click." Now, gently start screw clockwise, and tighten.

Bill Ruger designed the Security-Six and Redhawk to at once get away from sideplate lockwork and to eliminate screws.
David Bradshaw

 

[rugerguy]

EVERY gun maker who ever used a "pin" to hold and pivot, the rear sight at any given time will have the pin "walk off", to one side or the other ,nature of the beast............the slight bend is the easiest, simplest AND "neatest" of jobs...you start staking and flairing, you make it look like a back yard gun plumber did the work :roll:

PS rolls pins are "supposed" to work, BUT they end up doing the same thing, as well as being 'weaker'...seen some gun companies "try" and use them, but STOPPED..... 8)

 

[David Bradshaw]

I too have bent the sight retaining pin. In high school, a friend with a Colt 6" Woodsman Match Target had the sight pin shear while shooting. We replaced it with a section of drill. It held perfectly. I later did the same on a Colt National Match with Elliason sight. Of course, drill cannot be bent or peened, so it must be a snug fit. (Bo-Mar copied the scalloped screw-head adjustment concept from Elliason----a more consistent adjustment than hash marks stamped like spokes under the screw-head. The Elliason and Bo-Mar move elevation about .002" @ click, consistently.)
David Bradshaw

 

[660griz]

EVERY gun maker who ever used a "pin" to hold and pivot, the rear sight at any given time will have the pin "walk off", to one side or the other ,nature of the beast............the slight bend is the easiest, simplest AND "neatest" of jobs...you start staking and flairing, you make it look like a back yard gun plumber did the work :roll:
8)

So, you have seen some of my work? I'll try to be neat. If the flaring turns out bad, Bowen sight it is.

if the pin was the only thing moving, I would be a happy camper.

 

[David Bradshaw]

Not familiar with the non-micro click Bowen sight. A hand cannon such as SRH Alaskan .454 Casull would be happier with robust sight. Freedom Arms does not install the precisely adjustable silhouette sights----which come on the .44, .41, .357, and .22 silhouette revolvers----on the .454 Casull.

A call to Bowen Classic Arms should detail available sights, with Hamilton's deployment recommendations. Caliber factors. Above .45 Colt Ruger and .44 magnum, the recoil of Casull and Linebaugh, et al, artillery takes a vicious leap upwards.

Meanwhile, a great deal of fine shooting is been done with Ruger sights.
David Bradshaw