Frank46
03-29-2006, 03:34 AM
Recently had a 1891 argie rear sight sleeve that refused to budge. The previous owner had rotated the sleeve 180 degrees and ground off anything that would allow you to drive off the sleeve after the solder was hot. I wrapped the bbl in leather and stuck it in my vise. Action bottoms up. Then filed a flat on the sleeve as long as I could. Once you get down close switch to a fine file and file until you see a line appear. At this point you are very close to actually cutting through the sleeve and into the bbl. Heat with torch, I used a mapp torch. Then hit the sleeve on one side with a mallet and screwdriver and the sleeve split. After that I used a large leather mallet and a big dowel to drive the sleeve off. Cleaned up all the solder and used 400 grit silicon carbide paper. Then cold blued with brownells cold blue. You can use a sharp pointed scribe to get the solder from the shoulder where the sleeve butts up against it. Worked for me. Frank