Ruger Front Sights

[Thumbcocker]

Has anyone else had problems with Ruger single actions needing taller front sights lately? I have a .30 carbine B/H and a Lispy's .44 special that both shoot high with a variety of different loads. Both are very accurate but shoot about 6" high. Other Rugers have always been easy to zero for me.

[jhrosier]

Not lately, but I bought a used 4-5/8" SBH that shot way high with every load.
I found a big old 1" flat waher about 1/8" thick and made a new sight about 1/32" higher than what in thought I needed.
Good plan as it was exactly the right hieght.
Nothing high tech. I took the original sight off the gun and scribed the outline on the face of the washer, then cut it out leaving extra metal on the top and shaped it with hacksaw, bench grinder and files.

Note that this was a stainless gun with a separate blued sight blade.

A blued gun would need the services of a gunsmith or competent machinist to mill away the sight blade and make a slot in the base for a new blade.

I have heard of folks who sent their gun back to the factory for a new blade, but with the high price of shipping handguns these days, I would still spend some time in the shop and do it myself.

Jack

[Rodfac]

My Lipsey's .44 Special was just fine out of the box. I've shot both 215 gr Lyman 429215 GC's and some commercial cast 240 gr SWCBB's through it, about 200 rounds to date. The heavier obviously shot higher but both were well within the margins of the rear sight.

A new Vaquero in .45 LC had the usual overly tall front sight on it...probably meant for the cowboy crowd, but it filed down nicely to pt of aim at 25. The windage was 2" out as well, to the left actually, and I was able to correct some of it by widening the hog wallow a bit. It actually still needs some add'l adjustment that I'm not going to be able to accomplish...gunna be a barrel turning operation for a gunsmith. The heavier the loads the farther it prints out to the left.

Regards, Rodfac

[NHlever]

The last two new Ruger single actions I have worked with, a .45 Colt blued gun, and a .44 Mag stainless had front sights that were too low. I bought the stainless gun because of the ease of changing sights, and ordered the tall .45 Colt sight from the factory. That works fine. The blued .45 Colt is another problem, and I'm thinking that I will take off some of the top of the front sight, and solder on a piece of 1/8" square stock, and work that in to zero. There should be just enough extra all around to fit it well.

[insanelupus]

How are you guys changing the front sights on the Ruger Super Blackhawks? I have one in stainless steel I'd like to change out, however, I was under the impression it was affixed to the barrel and the only way to change them out was to have someone mill the blade off the sight base. My SBH was produced in 2002 if that makes any difference.

[Mallard57]

My front sight on my Lipsey .44 Special isn't centered so my rear sight is cranked all the way to the right. The elevation seems to be alright though.

Jeff

[Wally]

Jack,

How did you attach the front blade extension to the sight--I would assume with epoxy or some sort of adhesive. I need to do the same with my Ruger Blackhawk .30 Cal Carbine.

Thanks,

Wally

[jhrosier]

Jack,

How did you attach the front blade extension to the sight--I would assume with epoxy or some sort of adhesive. I need to do the same with my Ruger Blackhawk .30 Cal Carbine.

Thanks,

Wally
It was not an extension. I replaced the entire sight blade with a new one.
Stainless guns are made with a blade pinned into a separate base.
On a blued gun, the sight and base are made as one piece. You will have to mill the existing blade off the base and then mill a slot into the base to accept a new blade.
The blades are pinned in place.

Jack

[beagle]

I've always wondered, how are the bases attached? Silver soldered maybe????

I was entertaining the thought of cutting down a .30 Carbine Ruger to make it more carry friendly./beagle

[jhrosier]

I've always wondered, how are the bases attached? Silver soldered maybe????...

Probably silver soldered.

I have heard of folks using other Ruger sights, like the sights from the MKII or MKIII on the single actions because they are made to be fastened with a screw.
I have no idea how the heights of these might run though.

Jack

[Lloyd Smale]

dont know if they still will or not but ruger used to swap those blades to a higher one for free.

[NHlever]

I"m pretty sure that Ruger will still replace the front sights with higher ones for free. They used to target every handgun, but no longer do that, and that's how these low front sights get out. Replacing the blade on the stainless guns is pretty easy, and I keep a couple of the high .45 Colt front sight blades around for that purpose. The blued guns are a different matter, of course, and it would be easiest, (and cheapest) to let Ruger replace them.

[runfiverun]

a 5" or 4-5/8th in bbl on the 30 car revolver would make it waaay more friendly to carry.
i'd probably wear mine out if it had a shorter bbl.

[beagle]

That's what's been running through my mind too and prompted the question of how they are attached.

It would be pretty easy to chop one and then true and crown in a mill. There might be enough beef in the barrel to D & T for a home made ramp and the blade and pin would be easy with a mill.

Might take that project on this winter. Make a hell of a farm gun with a 311008HP./beagle


a 5" or 4-5/8th in bbl on the 30 car revolver would make it waaay more friendly to carry.
i'd probably wear mine out if it had a shorter bbl.

[beagle]

That was my thinking too,/beagle

QUOTE=jhrosier;586955]Probably silver soldered.

I have heard of folks using other Ruger sights, like the sights from the MKII or MKIII on the single actions because they are made to be fastened with a screw.
I have no idea how the heights of these might run though.

Jack[/QUOTE]