front sight blade removal on a Krag

[J257]

I have an 1898 krag with a bent front blade. I purchased a replacement but upon really looking at the front sight pin, I realized it's really small. What size punch do you use? The smallest I have is 1/16 and that might be a tad big. Also, do you drift left to right on a krag ? Any help would be much appreciated.

[J257]

Sorry about the double post - I'm still learning.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

I'm assuming that your rifle is a full length as-issued Krag, and not a cut down sporter? If so, then your front sight blade has probably remained in place for about 118 years and it may be reluctant to be removed. So I'd start by standing the rifle vertically up side down with the muzzle and sight in a small can of penetrating oil, like Kroil, for a couple of days. Yes, you'll want to disassemble from right to left as viewed from the butt, and you'll probably need a 1/32 pin punch. They are thin, bendable and breakable so maybe buy at least two. In the world of punches there are starter punches which usually have a heavier shaft that is tapered to the size of the pin, and that punch is given the first couple of smacks to get the pin moving, and a drive punch that has a shaft the same size as its tip and which is used to finish the job of driving the pin out once you get it to move, because its shaft is the same size or a bit smaller than the hole and will follow the pin through the hole, whereas the starter punch's diameter is too large to enter the hole. Sometimes, with very small pins like the one you want to use, I have used the point of a finishing nail to get the initial movement. Another thing you'll want to do is to brace the sight base against the force of the hammer and punch. If you can find a way to get the barreled action level with the jaws of a bench vise and then clamp the lower portion of the sight base below the slot in which the blade sits that would be one way to go. Failing that, get another pair of hands to help you and lay the rifle on it's side with something in that same location beneath the sight mount and have the other person hold it steady in that position while using the punch. A piece of hard wood would be a suitable backing. It can be a hard pin to get out without destroying or marring something just because (like you've noted) it's tiny size. If worse comes to worse and you chew up the end of the pin but can't move it you can always drill it out and then use a slightly larger pin as a replacement. On this job, as on others you may tackle in the future, if you break off the shaft of a drive pin punch, save the punch and grind the remaining tip smooth and then save it to use as a starter punch on a future job.

[J257]

Thank you Der! soaking for a couple of days sounds like a great idea. A couple of days will give me time to come up with some 1/32 punches. Probably not a bad idea to order an extra sight pin also.

[Finnmike]

The front sight on my 1896 was way too thin for my old eyes and too short for cast shooting. I filed a thicker one from .0062 brass stock. I had to file in a thinner "step" into the base to fit the original slot. Final zero was accomplished fit "shoot and file". Interesting little project, it was.