Help! Anyone remove the front sight on a a mini-14?

R

rathman

New member
I am trying to remove the front sight on a new mini-14. I removed the pin but the wrap-around sight won't budge. I'm afraid of damaging the barrel. Should I keep tapping it harder and harder? Do I heat it? :confused:
 
I just did this for a freind with him mini-14. After you get the pin out put a peice of wood against the back of the sight and hit the wood with a hammer. It will just pop off and the wood wont ding the metal.
Hope this helps
 
Thanks for the suggestion but I've already tried hammering with wood to the point that the wood blocks I was using got all chewed up. It's almost like it was welded in place.
 
Do you have one of these little propane torches? You could put the barrelled action in the refrigerator for a while, and then heat the sight. (Carefully; don't get the flame so close you get discoloration.) The ring of the sight should heat up a bit more quickly than the barrel, and you can then tap it off with your wood block...

Art
 
Thanks Art, I'll try that. Do you think I might damage anything by applying heat to the cold metal? Sounds like it would work.
 
You'd have to work real hard to hurt the temper of a rifle barrel with a propane torch, absent deliberate vandalism. Remember, many sights are held on via silver-solder.

I was more concerned about discoloration of the finish, but careful heating for a small time shouldn't matter.

(For that matter, you can hold the end of the barrel over a low flame of a gas kitchen stove for just a short time.)

Short time = ten to twenty seconds. Just enough to get some expansion of the sight, without heating through it to the barrel. The torch provides a more focussed flame.

Art
 
Ruger Mini-14 sights are TIGHT fit. Trying to beat one off can be an adventure.
My method (if you don't worry about saving the sight) is to use a DULL chisel on the bottom of the band. I tap the chisel as though attempting to cut the sight band. Since the chisel is dull, instead of actually cutting the band, it's expanded, and slips off.
 
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