1863 Pocket front site mod.

[Pocket]

My pocket model has always shot high. I had read that a brass washer can be used to make a taller front sight.
I bought 2 packs of different sized washer from Home Depot lastnight. (Cost $2.35.)

It took several attempts to get one to fit tight and I finally got it.

The rain today has kept me inside so I haven't been able to test shoot yet.

Using my laser bore sight and some filing I got it spot on in the living room.

It looks kinda tall but I can live with it.

 

[Blackpowdershooter44]

View attachment 818605 My pocket model has always shot high. I had read that a brass washer can be used to make a taller front sight.
I bought 2 packs of different sized washer from Home Depot lastnight. (Cost $2.35.)

It took several attempts to get one to fit tight and I finally got it.

The rain today has kept me inside so I haven't been able to test shoot yet.

Using my laser bore sight and some filing I got it spot on in the living room.

It looks kinda tall but I can live with it.

Looks real good!

 

[LonesomePigeon]

I bet you will like it. I put a dovetailed blade sight on a Uberti 1851 Navy and I really like it.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

Nicely done, I put a taller post on my 1851 as well, shoots 2 inches high at 50 yards. Your sight looks like the one I put on my Mauser Broomhandle.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

@Pocket, nice job.

I'm thinking of eventually buying one of those revolvers. How tall is your replacement sight?

 

[Pocket]

I will measure it.. I made it as tall as I could get from the brass washer. That way i could
take some off the top as needed.

The time consuming part for me was the filing by hand to get the thickness right so it would go in the same alot on the barrel.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

I made a post with a hollow base and glued it over the original sight with JB weld. It is twice the height of the original.

 

[Jackrabbit1957]

A quick way to check the height you need is to cock the hammer and lay a straight edge from the hammer notch to the front sight, level the barrel first, measure the distance from the barrel to the straight edge. It will get you in the ballpark.

 

[ThomasT]

Here is a good video of a front sight added to an 1851 Navy revolver. I like how he dovetailed the barrel. If I added a taller sight I believe this is how I would do it.

 

[Iota Unum]

View attachment 818605 My pocket model has always shot high. I had read that a brass washer can be used to make a taller front sight.
I bought 2 packs of different sized washer from Home Depot lastnight. (Cost $2.35.)

It took several attempts to get one to fit tight and I finally got it.

The rain today has kept me inside so I haven't been able to test shoot yet.

Using my laser bore sight and some filing I got it spot on in the living room.

It looks kinda tall but I can live with it.

Thanks for the inspiration. I am no machinist, I am no handy-man, can barely assemble an Ikea bookcase. I was shooting 4 inches high at 7 yards. I cut, on an angle, a 32 cal brass casing with a Dremel tool, to twice the height of the current sight, as someone recommended. Pounded it flat with a hammer. Opened the gap a bit with a small screwdriver and pushed it on the factory front sight. Glued with a few drops of lock-tight. Shoots just a bit low, but now can file the brass down to where I need it. Doesn't look pretty, but works.

 

[ThomasT]

You can make brass blade sights from old keys that were made from brass. I have done it before and its why I won't throw away old keys I no longer know what they open. The metal is still good for other uses. And you can buy brass sheet off ebay and from Hobby Lobby but I don't know what thickness they sell.

 

[44 Dave]

The sharp corners kind of take the "pocket" out of it.

 

[Iota Unum]

Yes, that is the next step. Once I file it down to where I need it, smooth out the edges.