Does anybody recognize this front sight?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Jul 13, 2019
Messages
12
I recently acquired a pre-WWII Colt Heavy Barrel Officers Model, customized for target shooting with a King Cockeyed Hammer, Flaig Ace Trigger Shoe, action tuned and set up for single-action only with a superb trigger pull. It has an unusual spring-loaded front sight with no visible brand name on it.

I can't find it in Nick Stroebel's book.

55-1.jpg FrontSight1.jpg FrontSight2.jpg
 
Looks a lot like a bolt from a semi, lever, or slide action rimfire to me

But considering the name of the other parts used it could be a factory made part
 
There is an unnamed inlet rear sight, obviously not original, adjustable for windage, also with a vertical hole missing its screw.
 
I know the comments about the implausibility of "home made", but you know, the Government trained a lot of machinist's and tool makers in WW2. Recently I shot in a Smallbore Prone match and the guy next to me is a tool maker. He had all sorts of unique parts on his scope stand, rifle barrel, etc. He had made them all. Back when America was a manufacturing nation with a huge number of workers who had access to fantastic machine tools at work, don't discount the idea that one of them was a shooter and was making front sights to his own design.
 
Would you be able to put a nut on it and tension down to raise the front sight.

Would there be any reason you would want to with this gun?
 
Also am I right to assume that there is a spring under the front of the sight and as you adjust the back screw you lower or raise the front sight post..???
 
I know the comments about the implausibility of "home made", but you know, the Government trained a lot of machinist's and tool makers in WW2
Yup. And that sight is made up of very simple angles. Nothing complicated. You could make one with a couple of good files, a tap and a drill--no real machining required.

I'm about 99% sure it's homemade, and here's one reason why.

Look at the side view and you'll notice something out of place on a part that is otherwise all straight lines and planes. There's a little semicircular portion right behind the screw that holds the sight to the barrel.

I'm willing to bet that semicircular portion is actually circular on closer visual inspection. In fact, I think it is a pin that is plugging a hole in the sight. It has been filed down flush.

So why is the pin there? Because the first time the person making the sight drilled the hole, they got it in the wrong spot and when they realized that, they plugged it with a pin. The second hole is the one the screw goes through.
 
Screw goes in, front sight post goes up, point of impact goes down.
Screw backs out, sight goes down, point of impact goes up.
The spring is there to keep tension on the sight when the screw isn't turned all the way in as far as it will go.
Handy way to adjust for different loadings.
 
that sight is made up of very simple angles.

Plus if you look at the picture from the top, the sides were machined down with pretty intricate precision, different than the later square machining done to make it a sight. They look to me like the locking portion of a rimfire bolt, but either was they are pointless on a front sight and I dont believe that was it's original purpose. The only reason for such machining on a sight would be to lower weight, and clearly by looking at the dimensions, weight wasnt a concern
 
Would you be able to put a nut on it and tension down to raise the front sight.

Would there be any reason you would want to with this gun?

The lower portion of the sight is a rectangle with a slot parallel to the barrel. The upper portion of the sight is made up of two pieces. The front section consists of a T-shape (viewed from above). The cross bar (which is actually a square) is the base of the sight blade (which is simply a milled-down upper section of that cross bar). Underneath this square cross-bar is a spring. The stem of the T fits into the slot in the base. The base features a (unused) hole through the bottom of the front. A screw or pin in that hole would lock the upper portion of the sight in place and prevent it from moving up and down. In the center of the rear of the base is a screw-pin that goes through the upper sight, attaching it to the base and functioning as a pivot. The rear of the upper sight, behind the slot, widens sideways to the same width as the sight base, and then its rear portion is milled vertically halfway to allow a rear adjustment screw to protrude. That rear screw adjusts the height of the sight blade, moving a long lever up or down, with that spring in front providing tension.

The whole upper portion of the sight seems to be one piece, but there is a pin, milled flat to each side going through that upper sight exactly where the bar that fits in the slot widens behind the slot. I was tempted to think that pin was joining two pieces, but I can't really see any join. I'm not sure why that pin is there. It was obviously installed with care. I really don't see why any hole would have mistakenly been drilled in that location. Maybe it's for aesthetics, to add something curved.

Yes, if you want to adjust the height of the front sight blade, you use that rear screw which moves the see-saw lever up or down.
 
Screw goes in, front sight post goes up, point of impact goes down.
Screw backs out, sight goes down, point of impact goes up.
The spring is there to keep tension on the sight when the screw isn't turned all the way in as far as it will go.
Handy way to adjust for different loadings.

Exactly correct.
 
Yup. And that sight is made up of very simple angles. Nothing complicated. You could make one with a couple of good files, a tap and a drill--no real machining required.

I'm about 99% sure it's homemade, and here's one reason why.

Look at the side view and you'll notice something out of place on a part that is otherwise all straight lines and planes. There's a little semicircular portion right behind the screw that holds the sight to the barrel.

I'm willing to bet that semicircular portion is actually circular on closer visual inspection. In fact, I think it is a pin that is plugging a hole in the sight. It has been filed down flush.

So why is the pin there? Because the first time the person making the sight drilled the hole, they got it in the wrong spot and when they realized that, they plugged it with a pin. The second hole is the one the screw goes through.

But I can't see any reason anyone would drill a hole there in the first place. It kind of looks like the pin is joining two sections, but it seems to be one piece. It's a mystery pin.
 
Looks like it was made from the sear of a milsurp rifle. That also would explain the 'filled in with a pin' theory, looks like where a trigger pin would go.
 
I was fiddling with it, trying to take more photos, phone in one hand, revolver in the other. From the left side, it really does look like that upper sight is made of two pieces with the pin holding them together. I believe I can see a join from the left.

I can't photograph the sight picture. I don't know how to get both the front and rear sight together in the same focus.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top