Mosin-Nagant front sight loose

8

'88Scrat

New member
I took my 91/30 out yesterday and found I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Upon further inspection I found that the front sight was so loose it was moving almost 1/4" freely on the base. Any advice on how to fix this? I didn't see a set screw or anything.
 
Slide the sight out, peen the dovetail just a tad, and drive the sight back in. Get the thing where you want it and use a punch to stake it if needed. You will not need to peen the sides of that dovetail in much at all.

I have not done this on any Mosin, I have done this trick on several other rifles, mostly abused muzzle loaders over the years. Folks are always whanging muzzle loader sights left and right like it is some kind of contest.
 
I would do that as well.

I have one my dad bought as kind of a joke when I was a kid and need to do it.

Gives me incentive to go do it.

Pretty much an NRA junker and no plans to do anything with it

Too much to fix it up to shoot as scopes are required for my eyes now. Can't shoot iron sights. Mixed up thing I would not trust anyway.
 
You can cut a shim or 2 from a pop can and slide it under the movable part to take up some slack if it is really loose, then peen it as suggested above.
 
Problem with shimming your sights is it changes the impact.

Remember for about every .0061 you move your sight, you change the impact 1 MOA.

Jhenry's ideal of pinning the dove tail slot doesn't change your elevation zero.
 
Ive found the best way to tighten up dovetails is to take a center punch and put in 3 to 4 punch holes in the bottom of the keyway. This expands the metal upward and creates a tight fit.
 
I have not done that one, but I have seen it done in a case where the fit was off but not by much. It did work very well.
 
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