mew
11-08-2019, 12:34 PM
If you saw my earlier thread, I picked up an M1917 and it shot low ... really low! So I asked about front sights. Outpost75 provided some great information and he sent me a couple Enfield front sights to see if they would fit. In the meantime, I was able to pick up a couple M1917 front sights and here is the comparison.
First, M1917 and the Enfield Front sights are interchangeable, I can install either in my front sight base. But that just says the dovetails are close enough to the same size it doesn't matter. The real issue is the height of the front blades and there are two measurements that decide that. One is the blade height above the base and two is the thickness of the base itself. In fact, the height of the blades are pretty close for each make and its the thickness of the base that decides the overall height. Here are the measurements I got. Understand that a couple of these appear to be brand new and the others have been installed. Add to that the manufacturing standards of the day and there are variances.
M1917 Front Sights:
Marked Blade Height Base Thickness
.045 .146 .066
.045 .142 .069
.060 .142 .083
.075 .147 .101
Enfield Front Sight
Marked Blade Height Base Thickness
0 .137 .089
.015 .136 .061
.030 .141 .095
You can draw your own conclusions from these measurements but I think its pretty clear you can't just cross an Enfield and M1917 front sight with the same size marking and expect the same results. Home the information provided helps someone out!
As promised, I will be putting two of these in the PIF.
First, M1917 and the Enfield Front sights are interchangeable, I can install either in my front sight base. But that just says the dovetails are close enough to the same size it doesn't matter. The real issue is the height of the front blades and there are two measurements that decide that. One is the blade height above the base and two is the thickness of the base itself. In fact, the height of the blades are pretty close for each make and its the thickness of the base that decides the overall height. Here are the measurements I got. Understand that a couple of these appear to be brand new and the others have been installed. Add to that the manufacturing standards of the day and there are variances.
M1917 Front Sights:
Marked Blade Height Base Thickness
.045 .146 .066
.045 .142 .069
.060 .142 .083
.075 .147 .101
Enfield Front Sight
Marked Blade Height Base Thickness
0 .137 .089
.015 .136 .061
.030 .141 .095
You can draw your own conclusions from these measurements but I think its pretty clear you can't just cross an Enfield and M1917 front sight with the same size marking and expect the same results. Home the information provided helps someone out!
As promised, I will be putting two of these in the PIF.