Drifting rear site on Ruger 10 22 Takedown model: I'm out of ideas, Help!

It's like the rear site is welded into the dovetail or there's a set screw locking it in place. It will not budge! It needs to drift to the left. I tried moving it in the past with no luck. But I really wanted to get the job done this time. I removed the barrel from the stock so I could really clamp it tight. No matter how much force I used hammering with the brass punch... nothing. Then I thought maybe there's loctite on it. So I took my heat gun and got the barrel hot. Too hot to touch. Still nothing. Then I got an ice cube out of the fridge and heated up the barrel again then applied the ice to just the site. The ice quickly melted and then steamed off (barrel must have been hotter than 212F). Hoping I expanded the dovetail metal a couple thousandth or so and then by shrinking the site metal maybe that would let me drift it. Again, zero movement. You could imagine I was really smacking that punch to rule out timidness on my part.

I bought this factory new. I'm the only owner. Videos on youtube show guys easily drifting their sites or removing them altogether to upgrade them. Also, my front site does drift. No shenanigans required. It's just this dang rear site. I think there may be more going on than I'm aware of. What would you advise I do to drift the rear site on my rifle?

Try driving the sight to the right to break it free first, then go left. If it will drive to the right, remove it and look for burrs or metal that has moved that might impede its movement. If that doesnt work, call Ruger.

Try drifting it Out to the right first. If you
get it out you can correct the problem.
Best, Thomas.

Bazoo & I sharing a wavelength.

Okay, I just tried that and no luck. It won't budge in either direction. I even applied the propane torch this time.

As I was walking back up to the house I was wondering if maybe it is cold welded in place. Like can happen to two stainless steel gauge blocks if you rub them together. The barrel is stainless. Not sure what the sight is made out of.

I've got an RMA# from Ruger now. Gun's going back.

Thanks guys!

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Originally Posted by 7Acres

Okay, I just tried that and no luck. It won't budge in either direction. I even applied the propane torch this time.

As I was walking back up to the house I was wondering if maybe it is cold welded in place. Like can happen to two stainless steel gauge blocks if you rub them together. The barrel is stainless. Not sure what the sight is made out of.

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I'm afraid gage blocks don't cold weld together. you can "wring" them together by sliding them together gage face to gage face with a VERY slight amount of oil on the faces. Time honored way was to wipe each gage block on the inside wrist of the opposite hand and slide very carefully together. Completely dry or well oiled blocks won't stick together. Dealt with gages for decades, this was always one of the cool things to show neophytes.

The dovetailed sights are factory installed in a fixture and arbhor press to push them in. A tired operator or a bad day Or evening before or some inattention allows sights that are to tight to be tapped in or out in to be forced into place.
In a vise solidly mounted with a heavy punch and hammer if it dosnt move then more drastic measures. Usually causing replacement of the rear sight. I have had one I had to split thru to relieve tension on the dovetail. If driving from left to right with a solid punch and heavy hammer dosnt move it try a flat punch and tap lightly down on sight to flatten tooling marks and possibly gain some movement

I'm glad you're returning it because the next step wold be destroy the sight.

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Originally Posted by Texas by God

I'm glad you're returning it because the next step wold be destroy the sight.

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Yeah, Ruger can destroy it and replace it on their dime. I like the rifle. I'm hoping it's a tack driver when I get it back.

be sure to let us know how the repair went at Rugers

knowledge is power!

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/...te-site-sight/

Update: I packaged it up and took it to my local UPS store. The store owner promptly informed me they can't ship guns. He directed me to the distribution center who can. :-|

I didn't want to drive that far and got to thinking. They should only need the barrel. I called Ruger to ask if they can repair with just the barrel. They patched me to the NH service rep. The nice lady had a look at my situation and decided, if it was okay with me, that she could simply send me a new barrel at no charge. Fine with me!

So I'm waiting for a new barrel now. I'm just hoping they are sending a takedown version. We shall see. Just got the shipping notification so I should have it in a couple days.

Now, onto my next question... Texas by God mentioned the next step would be to destroy the rear sight. I'll hold off on doing that till the new barrel shows up and all is well. But in the interim, how do I go about destructively getting the old sight off? Hack saw?


Got it, 17nut, spelled sight, not site. Thanks!

Milling machine. cut a slot out of the middle of the sight almost to the bottom of the dovetail and see if it will loosen enough to drift out. With a mill you could go pretty thin with it and not touch the barrel. Hacksaw I dunno...

You can do it with a hacksaw but care is needed and be prepared when the cut is deep enough to release the dovetail it will grab pinch the blade. You need to put the cut in where it wont get into the dovetails angle. then cut flat and parallel to the bottom. I prefer the end mill but the saw will do it with care and patience. Any thing that allows the base to collapse a few thousandths or more will do it. A small hole drilled thru under the blade to relieve the base will do it also but its going to be a pretty small drill bit.

Put two new blades in the hacksaw in opposing directions and use aluminum from a soft drink can as barrel shielding. You want to be as careful as you can; take your time. A LOT of good can be done with a proper hacksaw. My all time favorite saw- and blades- is Sandvik from Sweden.
Like a gun, a hacksaw used improperly can cause permanent damage. Best, Thomas.

The new barrel came today. It is the correct version (takedown) and shoots great! Glad to get that taken care of finally. Much thanks to Ruger's customer service. They made it right and it didn't cost me a penny.

I love happy endings.

Threads like this are why I won't give up drinking....(shaking head)

So, I did manage to get that rear sight off by very carefully using a dremel grinding wheel to reduce the sight's dovetail material. Tapped right out as soon as I got down to tinfoil thickness. I was expecting to see a barb or some other obvious reason the sight was hung up. My micrometer showed the sight's dovetail was slightly wedge shaped. The right side of the dovetail was wider than the left side. That explains why it wouldn't drift to the left. Doesn't explain why it wouldn't drift to the right though.

So I've got this extra barrel now. I was wondering what I could do with it. Any ideas? Just put an aftermarket rear sight on it and hang onto it as a spare?