My new 1860 front sight

[chaz12]

I wanted to make a taller front sight for a Pietta 1860 using the existing sight as a starting point.

I took out the old sight and filed the top down a little bit to make a flat base. Then I cut a piece of 3/32" brass rod and filed a flat spot on the bottom. I glued the rod to the original base with JB weld and re-installed the sight, turning it around so the base sloped upwards towards the muzzle. It is plenty sturdy for shooting at the range which is what I do. I don't know if it would hold up if you were holstering the revolver.

I intended this to be temporary until I could think of something that would look more historical, but I tried it out for shooting and it worked great. It gave an excellent sight picture and point of impact was right on target at 50 feet. I have a new idea, but I'm not sure I want to change something that is working so well.

Chaz

 

[swathdiver]

Nice, practical and simple! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hellgate]

Looks cool. Never seen a post w/a bead on a revolver before. If it gets knocked off here's what I did with my 1860 Army. I pried out the front sight and made a triangle shaped sight from some brass shim stock that fit into the slot of the barrel. I rounded the bottom slightly so it would seat deeper into the slot. You could use brass, aluminum, silver, steel etc. Then I shaped it by rounding the tip a bit and epoxied it in place. Works great and my revolver no longer shoots high. JB would work too. I would paint the JB black with a Sharpie pen if that is what I used.