Marcruger2
Bearcat
My buddy has a Single Six 22 Hunter model, and has had much trouble seeing the tiny factory brass bead front that comes on it. I am trying to help, and found a great solution. I am hoping it will help others here too.
The factory front sight blade slides in from the front in a dovetail, and apparently has a ball detent that engages a hole in the bottom rear of the sight blade. The blade has that tiny gold bead, but my eyes don't see it well either. We both think Ruger should have installed the dovetail front from the big Hunter Blackhawk centerfire models. The Single Six Hunter .22 "Vee" rear blade is too deep for that tiny bead, so it is hard to gauge elevation. The front sight base is held in by a ball detent underneath......at least that is what is put forward by Ruger.
New England Custom Gun Service (NECG) in Claremont, NH makes a Sourdough, white line front sight that slides right in. Search "NECG RUGER R-152.2 SOURDOUGH" and it will pop up. A jewel-like bit of workmanship. Very nice. It is made for Ruger rifle front sights like on the No. 1 and similar. It is a little long, but is premarked where to cut it off to fit the "short" length dovetail like the Single Six Hunter. The sight base has a set screw on the end towards the breech. This is important.
My buddy ordered one for his Hunter, and we went to install it. The factory ball detent would not move when we tried to get the factory bead blade out. At all. Much Kroil and frustration. We finally tapped it from the rear with a leather mallet and it popped right out. No ball detent! Just a hole where one should be. Not sure what was holding it in? The good news is that the set screw on the NECG base lines up perfectly with the hole. Voila! The set screw holds the base/blade in place. We added a little blue LocTite in the dovetail just to make sure. This sight is just slightly taller than the factory bead blade.
We swapped in a standard height Ruger rear square notch blade. Out of the sight base, this blade is .261 tall. .122 wide rear notch. The "Vee" notch factory one was a bit taller. Therefore we guessed we'd have to raise the rear sight up. At his range we discovered the revolver will sight-in with this sight combo. That said there is .10" clearance under the rear sight. Kind of high. It'll need a new taller rear sight blade. Maybe a Ronnie Wells/Fermin's 2 Dogs blade. The factory white outline taller rear is only .026 taller. We could of course file down the front sight, but it is crafted and finished so well the rear sight change seems more appropriate. The new sight picture with the NECG blade front and a square notch rear is much much much better.
Just thought this might save someone a bit of time and provide some inspiration. God Bless and best wishes, Marc
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The factory front sight blade slides in from the front in a dovetail, and apparently has a ball detent that engages a hole in the bottom rear of the sight blade. The blade has that tiny gold bead, but my eyes don't see it well either. We both think Ruger should have installed the dovetail front from the big Hunter Blackhawk centerfire models. The Single Six Hunter .22 "Vee" rear blade is too deep for that tiny bead, so it is hard to gauge elevation. The front sight base is held in by a ball detent underneath......at least that is what is put forward by Ruger.
New England Custom Gun Service (NECG) in Claremont, NH makes a Sourdough, white line front sight that slides right in. Search "NECG RUGER R-152.2 SOURDOUGH" and it will pop up. A jewel-like bit of workmanship. Very nice. It is made for Ruger rifle front sights like on the No. 1 and similar. It is a little long, but is premarked where to cut it off to fit the "short" length dovetail like the Single Six Hunter. The sight base has a set screw on the end towards the breech. This is important.
My buddy ordered one for his Hunter, and we went to install it. The factory ball detent would not move when we tried to get the factory bead blade out. At all. Much Kroil and frustration. We finally tapped it from the rear with a leather mallet and it popped right out. No ball detent! Just a hole where one should be. Not sure what was holding it in? The good news is that the set screw on the NECG base lines up perfectly with the hole. Voila! The set screw holds the base/blade in place. We added a little blue LocTite in the dovetail just to make sure. This sight is just slightly taller than the factory bead blade.
We swapped in a standard height Ruger rear square notch blade. Out of the sight base, this blade is .261 tall. .122 wide rear notch. The "Vee" notch factory one was a bit taller. Therefore we guessed we'd have to raise the rear sight up. At his range we discovered the revolver will sight-in with this sight combo. That said there is .10" clearance under the rear sight. Kind of high. It'll need a new taller rear sight blade. Maybe a Ronnie Wells/Fermin's 2 Dogs blade. The factory white outline taller rear is only .026 taller. We could of course file down the front sight, but it is crafted and finished so well the rear sight change seems more appropriate. The new sight picture with the NECG blade front and a square notch rear is much much much better.
Just thought this might save someone a bit of time and provide some inspiration. God Bless and best wishes, Marc
