Grant:
If you have a buddy with access to a vertical or horizontal milling machine you can take a .060 wide slitting saw and make a slot right through the front sight of either the 1873 or 1884. A piece of cold rolled 16 ga steel will fit snug in the slot just machined. You can soft solder it in or drill a 1/16" hole and pin the new front blade in place. File the new blade to the height you want so you get center hits at 50 yards or 100 yards. If you mess up the new blade you can easily fit up a new 16 ga blade. I will try and post a few photos.