Removing Mauser rear sight

[Char-Gar]

What is the recommended method to remove the rear sight (band, base and all) from the barrel?

[bruce drake]

I use my Bernz-O-Matic (just love that brand name) propane torch and heat the sight band until the silver solder holding the rear sight in place soften enough for me to tap the band down the barrel and to slide it off.

Don't heat the band until it is red hot. You just need to heat it to melt the solder (around 650 degrees) that is securing the band to the barrel. There may be a screw in the rear sight base that may be required to be removed prior to heating the base. Some Mausers use this screw to seat the base prior to securing with the solder.

I'm sure there are better gunsmihs out there that can go into deeper depth than I.

Bruce

[KCSO]

Depending on the make and model you may have either a pin or a screw retaing the sight in addition to the solder. Remember to drive out the pin or remove the screw. To keep the bore from any scaling in case you overheat accidentaly coat the bore with inletting black. A propane torch will do the job, but yu need to keep the heat on a LONG time. I prefer a Mapp gas torch or the like, as it works faster.

Have a brass brush handy and as soon as the sight pops off use the brass brush to clean off the solder, a regular wire brush will scratch the barrel and have to be re polished for the new finish.

If you don't want to put on a new front sight you can have the original base milled off and a std dovetail cut and then you just tap in a standard bead. Or get a square blade front sight from a Swede and slip it into the existing dovetail.

[StarMetal]

ksco

From only looking a few Sweded over, one inparticular my best friend a 7.5x55, the front sight if I remember correcty is in a dovetail that it not a straight 90 degrees across the barrel. Rather it was at a slant across the barrel and the corresponding sight blade/base was manufactured accordingly. Thus I don't see how it would work on other Mauser front sight ramps.

Correct if I'm wrong.

Joe

[Herb in Pa]

Joe...the dovetail on a Swede is straight across, the Swiss rifles are the ones with the angled dovetails.


Herb

[StarMetal]

Thanks Herb, I knew it was of to those two and now that you mention it, it was a Swiss my friend had. Again thanks.

Joe

[NVcurmudgeon]

A friend of mine had a South American '98 in 7 X 57, maybe Venezuelan, with the front sight in a long track angled across the ramp. This provided more windage adjustment without the front sight hanging precariously off to one side. He also had a .22 LR conversion for it, which delivered excellent accuracy.

[StarMetal]

Curmudge

Now that's interesting about the S.Amer rifle having a front sight like that. That's the only other one I heard of besides the Swiss.

Joe

[slabsides]

Curmudgeon's friend probably has a Mauser like mine. A bit rare, it's a 1935 Chilean police 'Carabineros' carbine. Oberndorf Mauser manufacture. 7mm Mauser caliber. Only about 5,000 0f the 10,000 ever made were surplused into the US in the 1984 time frame. They were allowed in during the ban on imports because they were police guns, not military. Mine has a three digit serial, and is in wonderful shape. It's also very accurate, although my old eyes have a bit of trouble with those military sights. The quality of these old Mausers is really something...make modern gun manufacture look like kiddie toys. I'm keeping it original permanently!:-D

[gzig5]

There is no reason a Swiss K31 front site can not be used on any other rifle it could be fitted to. The blade moves at an angle in relation to the bore, but the blade is always parallel to the bore. In the end, the result is the same. Now, getting one off of a K31 without damaging it or the barrel is another thing.
Greg