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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 11, 2021 8:40:38 GMT -5
Replacing an adjustable rear sight on a 30 year old K frame SW. Never realized there was the slight variation in length for these things. Finally got the parts I need gathered together. Assembling a useable sight required removing the innards from one that was wrong and installing them in one that was right. There are some itty bitty parts in that thing. After loosing three of the plungers to the great abyss of the classroom at Larry's I boxed the stuff up and ordered 10 of the things from Brownell's. The journey continues today.  |
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Post by bradshaw on Jan 11, 2021 9:33:00 GMT -5
Replacing an adjustable rear sight on a 30 year old K frame SW. Never realized there was the slight variation in length for these things. Finally got the parts I need gathered together. Assembling a useable sight required removing the innards from one that was wrong and installing them in one that was right. There are some itty bitty parts in that thing. After loosing three of the plungers to the great abyss of the classroom at Larry's I boxed the stuff up and ordered 10 of the things from Brownell's. The journey continues today. ***** Stan.... the post-war S&W sight is a fine instrument. Drop forged base. Which, screwed to its trough in the topstrap, acts as a leaf-type elevation spring. Elevation and windage screws have 6-clicks per revolution. Repeatable adjustment assured by a spring-loaded plunger in the circumference of respective screw head. Elevation adjustment is limited the leaf-spring base with short elevation screw, so gross ZERO is set by be height of front sight. As with all micro-click iron sights, lubrication with light, non-oxidizing oil is a good thing. The windage screw threads through the SIGHT SLIDE (windage screw doesn’t move). Thus, clockwise moves sight slide & POI right. On assembly, the windage screw is staked to its nut. Everything works smooth with correct assembly. Trouble arises when p=arts have a burr or are ham-handed in assembly. The sights on my S&Ws work as precisely as they are designed and manufactured. Numerous silhouettes found their Model 29 with 8-3/8” barrel to run out of elevation adjustment. S&W had two solutions: 1) lower rampo or Patridge front sight, or 2) a high rear sight slide. A poorly made or assembled S&W sight is junk. David Bradshaw |
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Post by bigmuddy on Jan 11, 2021 11:42:39 GMT -5
Those little springs and plungers can sure cause some colorful profanity. I have spares on hand and also learned when changing sight blades to work with the sight inside a clear plastic bag. Told my brother to do that when he was working on one of his sights. I went to another room to get something and when I came back he was crawling around on the floor. Some people just don’t listen. Dan |
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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 11, 2021 12:06:33 GMT -5
work with the sight inside a clear plastic bagNow there is a plan! I'd laugh if I had not just experienced three of them heading south.
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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 11, 2021 18:15:44 GMT -5
See the difference in these two....  |
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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 11, 2021 18:16:33 GMT -5
Tang on late model is another beast.  |
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Post by AxeHandle on Jan 11, 2021 18:18:12 GMT -5
Just so you can say that you have seen one... FWIW there are two of these in your S&W revolver adjustable rear sight... One for windage and one for elevation. A little spring sits under each one.  |
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Post by matt56 on Jan 11, 2021 19:07:10 GMT -5
The different variations of rear sights will drive you mad. The N frames from the nineties could have had about 4 different ones, 2 of which are super hard to find.
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Post by sorehandluke on Feb 9, 2021 20:39:11 GMT -5
I used to fly those tiny 4 channel RC helicopters. Tiny ones. You had to use a magnifier to see the screws. I worked on them down in a deep cake pan to try to keep the tiny bits from getting dropped. It mostly worked. Mostly.
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Post by x101airborne on Feb 9, 2021 21:31:33 GMT -5
My Gunsmith used an aquarium turned upside down with two holes for his hands to go through. He would hold the piece he was working on in a small vise and a white mat under the aquarium so he could see better.
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Post by sorehandluke on Feb 9, 2021 23:40:07 GMT -5
My Gunsmith used an aquarium turned upside down with two holes for his hands to go through. He would hold the piece he was working on in a small vise and a white mat under the aquarium so he could see better. That is droppage insurance that you could count on. No tiny spring could escape. Reminds me of the Manhattan Project. Very clever!
The cake pan technique falls apart when you accidentally knock the pan off the bench.
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Post by bradshaw on Feb 10, 2021 8:05:06 GMT -5
Tang on late model is another beast. ***** My familiarity is with post-war drop forged REAR SIGHT LEAF. I call it a leaf because it is bent to act as the leaf-type elevation spring. Call it the sight BASE, doesn’t matter as long as we know what we’re talking about. I do not like the radiuses end of the later leaf, it does not mate with the lines of the top strap. I suspect the radiuses leaf relates to manufacturing process (MIM?); it certainly isn’t aesthetic.Length of the old leaf is determined by top strap length, with N-frame longer than K-frame. In assembly, the tip of the windage screw is staked to the nut for free rotation without lateral play. Improper assembly results in a windage screw which, a) binds, making it impossible to feel the 6-clicks per rev adjustment; or b) screw is loose & sloppy. I never encountered lousy adjustments until Bangor Punta got its hands down to the shop floor.. Important at this point to emphasize great guns continued to be made by Smith & Wesson under Bangor Punta, along with lousy. Some folk, invested stereotype, declare workmanship of 5-screw, even 4-screw superior to all 3-screw revolvers Bullroar. And nowhere was this more clearly demonstrated than during fierce revolver battles in IHMSA silhouette. As for the plethora of rear sight bases since earlier times, it sounds nuts. David Bradshaw |
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