Sight making

Let me preface by saying that I shamelessly stole this idea from another member here with his permission.

So I have two martini Henry rifles , one shoots to the sights pretty well , the other ... it's a solid foot to the right of the sights .
One day last year , maybe twoyears ago I've lost track .
I seen a thread where a fellow made his own sight to take care of the problem .
I thought to myself hey that's a pretty darn simple idea so I made one after asking for permission to copy his .

Well some mistakes were made , first one was I didn't take into account that I am left handed .
As you can see in the picture , that's a big issue .
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The sight staff is right where my hand needs to be to reach the trigger. ... yea huge mistake . One I should have caught first off .
Not after I had already finished the thing .

The next mistake was on engraving the verneer scale , not a huge mistake was made , the lines just turned out a little crooked .
Unfortunately the scale doesn't show that great in the pic .
I'm also not happy with the eye piece . I just need to do something aesthetically.
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I think I've worked out a fix for the first problem , I raised the base up higher along with shortening up the staff a tiny bit so when it's at its lowest point it doesn't interfere with my grip .
Please excuse the confusion on the base , I decided that it was just as easy to make it big enough for two tries in case I screwed up and I have cut it in half yet or removed the excess from the block I machined it from . I also haven't cut the staff to lenght either .
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One thing I haven't decided yet is what to do with the eye piece ..
Or how to properly engrave a scale .

I've also learned that the guy I copied this from was a much better machinist then I am . He also did a better job thinking things threw .
Being as his worked ;)

Im sure you can get it to work ok. It still looks good.

Looking forward to seeing your progress, well done :)

I'm hoping to get a few hours on it this evening , to many started and unfinished projects ;)
A few of us gather the weekend before the fourth of July and do some longer range shooting I'm hoping to have something useable before then .

I silver braze a piece of HSS tool bit to a 3/8" round stock, grind a fine point, set it up in the mill and use the quill as a means to broach the markings on my sight staffs, bases, and blocks. Attachment 244079Attachment 244080Attachment 244081Attachment 244082
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That's a pretty darn good idea , thank you :)

I have things nearly finished , after dinner I'm going to clean up some rough edges and take some pics

I made a side mount for a Rawson SMLE sight ,that I saved from selling my old SMLE range rifle......Didnt use any machines,even tho I have them,everything was made with an 4" angle grinder and file.......The thread at the front of the Martini is just 1/4" Whit,or UNC,if you like.........and a longer screw replaces the extractor pivot,and sticks out enough to thread on a side piece.......then replace the block pivot with 1/4" bolt,and bobs yer uncle......Incidentally,the Rawson is similar to a Central sight,but mounts on a bevel ,not in slots,on a sideplate..You dont have much space on a Martini,too far back hits your thumb,too far forward obstructs the loading..........If you look on a Martini forum,there are plenty of turn of the century ideas for aperature sights on a Martini,without any drilling.

That's way cool.

When I try to make something that detailed and precise- it looks it was done with a rock and a hatchet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Winger Ed.

That's way cool.

When I try to make something that detailed and precise- it looks it was done with a rock and a hatchet.

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Me to , I don’t have the knowledge skills or tools .
I really admire the skills we see here.

You'll have to forgive me for not getting back sooner , but I have made progress .

So I think I've figured out what I want now that i have the second Version at a useable stage . I shot a few rounds with it last weekend
And for the most part I'm happy except for physical size so I'm going to make things a bit more refined and a wee bit smaller .

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Williams 5-D is how I solved the problem, cheap and the markings are already there. A target shot with those sights at 100yd.
You can install the target knobs if you want easier adjustment.

Bob