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How hard is it to solder a front sight on and get it right? I’m leaning to having a gunsmith do it for me. I’ve done a bit of soldering with propane, but think this job would be done better with mixed gas, heating a small area fast with a tiny flame. Also I want it to be done correctly, so the gun is accurate. How does a gunsmith know it’s aligned properly?
I crazy glue the front sight on , then take the rifle to the range and fire a couple of test shots to see how it is aligned.
If it is not shooting where I want it to , I remove the sight , re position it , glue it back on and shoot it again.
Once I get the front sight aligned to hit center of Target with the rear sight set Dead Center, then I mark the barrel with a Scribe around the front sight base.
I take the rifle home , remove the sight and ramp , then clean up the parts and solder them in place.
If you Tin the barrel within the scribe lines , and Tin the bottom of the ramp , then coat lightly with flux.
The two parts can be positioned to the scribe marks , clamped in place with a Spring Clamp , then heated up with a torch till the solder melts.
The heat will not generally Remove the bluing, but the Flux will.
So go gentle on applying Flux to both Tinned parts before you clamp them in position.
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Before attaching sights, I always level the action side-to-side, then align a plumb line with the bore C/L.
I "tin" the underside of the sight base & barrel surface after cleaning/de-greasing, then clamp the sight in place, ensuring it's both level & plumb over the bore C/L.
If the installation's only a little bit "off " plumb & level, it may be very difficult to zero the rifle/sights.
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helps to make a spring loaded arm to position the sight. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. Soldering on a sling swivel base here, but use the same setup for sights. Have a 3/4" dia coil spring on the other end of the arm to hold the parts together until the solder cools. Sling swivel was made from a piece of that 1/2" scrap plate next to the allen wrench.