how to raise front sight?

[woodperson]

I have a 6.5" barreled OM in .41 mag. It shoots high for me with the rear sight all the way down. The gun has already been refinished (by Ruger). So I am looking for a way to raise the front sight without damaging the finish. I have not shot it in a while and am not sure how much but it is pretty significant. I am going to take it out tomorrow with both full loads and the light loads I shoot and get a good number.

Specifically, can a piece of brass be soft soldered to the sight without damaging the finish on the gun except for the area of the joing?

Or is there another solution. I am familiar with the idea of milling it off and milling a slot and would prefer not to do that. Actually I would not mind doing that but maybe do not want to pay $60 each way for shipping and do not know who to send it to. I would be willing to drive it a good ways from either Knoxville, TN or Dade City, FL.

If the barrel were shortened could a new base be soft soldered on without damaging the finish around it?

 

[mike campbell]

What about lowering the rear blade?

They're cheap and available and easily swapped out.

Examine the area just in front of the rear blade....how much lower could the bottom of the notch be without seeing the sight body? File the notch bottom to the max allowable, then take a similar amount off the top of the blade. You may gain 40-60 thousandths of reduced elevation....a relatively large amount. If that gets you within a few thou of where you need to be, consider taking even more off the top and sacrificing a few thou of notch depth.

 

[Hondo44]

I agree with Mike above. But I wouldn't worry about deepening the notch. Just take some off the top of the rear blade.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

What Hondo said +1 or switch to heavy bullets running a little slower.

 

[LAH]

Purchase a sight & cut a dovetail.

http://s66.photobucket.com/user/Creekerpics/media/Firearms/Liberty%2045/DSC04836.jpg.html?sort=3&o=9

 

[Rclark]

Just take some off the top of the rear blade.

+1. Had to do that with my .44 Special. Worked good.

 

[Trebor Snave]

Re-cutting the forcing cone fixed that problem on my 45. Just a suggestion on something to try without messing around with the sights.

 

[eric conrad]

A little JB Weld on top of front sight works for me.
Eric

 

[PriseDeFer]

Hold it tighter when you touch it off.

 

[blueroan]

Just set it up like the stainless steel BLACKHAWKS.

BOWEN CLASSIC ARMS can do the milling job easily. Check them out and get on the waiting list. ALPHA PRECISION did a similar job on my Old Model SUPER BLACKHAWK.

 

[hdsjr]

Before you do anything drastic, try some fairly stout loads at the range. Light bullets with mild loads sometimes shoot high due to taking longer to escape the effects of recoil. I had that happen to me on a .44 Dan Wesson.

 

[LAH]

What were the results of you range secession?

 

[hdsjr]

I actually made a new higher front sight - the front sight on the DW is removable. After reading some comments online, I loaded some rounds at good .44 spl velocity and was able to dial in the right elevation using the factory sight. I had to go to plated bullets to avoid bbl leading. Worth a try.

 

[woodperson]

Thanks for all the help. I have not made it to the range yet. I did take an extra sight blade and filed it down. I was able to get almost 40 thousands from it. That sight blade is pretty hard too. I have it on the gun and have loaded up some Lill Gun and some Tightgroup loads to see how it does Be next week now before I get to the range.

Hamilton Bowen works pretty close to Knoxville. But as I understand his policy there are no walk ins or drop offs so I would still have to ship it. I am going to try the lowered rear sight and trying a different grip and see what it does. Instead of spending much more money on this gun I would rather buy a short barreled gun in either .41 mag or .45 LC. Leaning towards one of the .45 convertible new models actually.

Thanks

 

[edlmann]

. . . switch to heavy bullets running a little slower.

Hold it tighter when you touch it off.

Before you do anything drastic, try some fairly stout loads at the range. Light bullets with mild loads sometimes shoot high due to taking longer to escape the effects of recoil.

Another possibility along the same lines: port the barrel.

I Magnaported a .44 Special Bulldog and had to take 3/16" or more off of the front sight to compensate. Bullets were hitting the ground 10 feet or so in front of the firing point.

 

[steve8261948]

I'd vote with others who advice lowering the rear sight blade. There are mathematical forumals out there to figure how much to go(distance between sights divided by distance, in inches you're shooting times the error in inches). When I had Clements do my S&W model 63(higher blue front sight) I hand filed a K frame blade and cold blued it to match original finish. Not too difficult.
But, I agree wholeheartedly, shoot the gun first!
Steve

 

[woodperson]

Thanks for all the help. I filed about .040" from the sight blade. Finally got to shoot it today. The good news is that it shoots about the right height now. The bad news is that I was not shooting well and the groups were so big it made the sight issue a little irrelevant. I also had a couple of split cases. (With the recommended starting load for Lill Gun). Going to do some measuring and thinking before I go try it again. I really do not see the sights well on this gun and can not get the separation on each side of the front sight I need to be sure the sights are aligned.
Thanks
Bill

 

[steve8261948]

You lowered the front sight blade?
Steve

 

[woodperson]

Rear sight blade.