Loose front dovetail sight

[texassako]

I have a Remington Model 8 that I wanted to use an interesting old aftermarket front sight on. It ended up being loose enough to move under recoil. Is dimpling the underside of the sight the best way to tighten up the fit? Will it be permanent enough, or loosen up over time? The rifle has a pretty light recoil being in .25 Remington.

[sparky45]

That or a shim, or both.

[Outpost75]

Gently peen the dovetail back into shape, if it shows any deformation. It is possible if the old sight was forced out the wrong way, the taper in the dovetail may have been compromised. Dimpling the undersize of the sight "should" work to improve the fit. Always work on the cheapest part! But just as "insurance," it won't hurt to degrease the sight and dovetail and put a drop of service removable blue 242 Loctite on it when reassembling.

[Win94ae]

But just as "insurance," it won't hurt to degrease the sight and dovetail and put a drop of service removable blue 242 Loctite on it when reassembling.

That is what I did with my Win94ae; it held flawlessly and wasn't difficult to remove when needed.

[country gent]

The base can be soldered and refit also. A light tinning of solder and refit it. I would be a light coating of JB weld could be applied let harden and refit also. The stipling works its been done for years but leaves alot of hills and valleys and sharp edges to work on the mating surface. I have rebuilt sight bases with solder and recut with good results. I would try the jb weld though. Roughen the base of the sight with coarse emery cloth. clean with alclhol. Mix according to instructions ( if you have some steel filings handy you can add a little of these to act as fibers to add strength) apply thin coating and set on wax paper on a flat surface to cure. Then fit to dovetail. Theres alot of fixes for this peening the dovetail smaller with a small ball peen ( polish face to mirror surface) works very well also. Stipling or dimpling will work. Locktite will work at times. Locktite with the dimpling stipling works good since the valleys hold it better and give it a place to reside in the joint.

[fouronesix]

I know that peening and dimpling have been done for years. Probably because it is/was quick and easy. The best, non-permanent thing to use would be JB Weld. Clean the barrel slot and bottom of sight with alcohol or acetone. Mix a small quantity with a toothpick. If the rear sight has windage adjustment, just center the front sight and let it set up over night. JB Weld is nice because it is strong and reversible with mild heat.

[MtGun44]

Red loc-tite. Warm with a torch to remove.

Bill

[fecmech]

Cut a small shim out of an old set of feeler gauges and place it under the sight as you install it.

[texassako]

Lots of good options. I am probably going to need to move the sight some, at least initially, since the rear is not windage adjustable. Maybe use the shim to find the proper position, mark it, and then Loctite or JB it in place. The factory bead fits nice and tight; so I don't want to mess with the rifle's dovetail. Here is a pic of the offending sight on the barrel jacket:

75512

[MtGun44]

Unless it is literally falling out, I doubt you can get even a .001" shim in there.

Bill

[Cap'n Morgan]

Red loc-tite. Warm with a torch to remove.

Bill

What the man said! Use Loc-tite. It will still bond even if you adjust the sight a couple of times.

The smartest solution I've seen to get a good lock on a dove-tail mount is on the Blaser rifles which has a short, sturdy piece of piano wire in a slot on the bottom of the sight. The slightly bend wire provides the correct amount of friction even if the dove-tail tolerances should vary a little.

[texassako]

Nope, shims did not fit. Not even the plastic .0005" shim stock I had in the cabinet. I put a drop of Loctite on it and swapped my tang sight over to it so it doesn't need any moving.


Unless it is literally falling out, I doubt you can get even a .001" shim in there.

Bill