Removing a front sight

S

SIGSHR

New member
Just bought a Winchester M-77, a previous owner installed the front sight
from a centerfire rifle so that at 25 feet it shoots 3 1/4 " low for me. As far as
I can tell this sight it epoxied on, I see no trace of anything that indicates welding or soldering, nor do I see a screw of any kind. To remove this front sight would you recommend:
1. Securing the barrel in a vise then using a hammer and drift pin, or
2. Carefull application of heat? TIA.
 
info for you

If you can see no dovetail of any kind on the front sight, then I would use heat to remove it. Most likely it is soft soldered to the barrel. I would ask you to double check and make sure the front blade isn't dovetailed on top of the sight base because some are dovetailed in and the screw is underneath the blade. I would actually try to tap the blade from left to right and make sure it won't move and then be hiding a screw on you.

If it is soft soldered, use a propane torch to play the heat around the barrel to warm it up slowly and tap it occasionally to see if it starts to move for you. It shouldn't take much heat so play the torch around on the back side of the barrel and don't keep it in one spot too long. If this doesn't work for you, I would think there is a screw holding it on for you. Make sure to tap it and not hammer on it just in case. Good luck with it.
 
Pictures of that rifle show a front site. If you are sure this is not the original and it is shooting low, that means the post is too high for you and could be filed down to shoot where you want it. Almost 0.2" of extra front sight height is there if it shoots 3.25" low at 25 ft and there is about a foot-and-a-half between the front and rear sights? Are you sure you can't set the rear sight up a bit? I couldn't see clearly from the picture whether it is stop-adjustable?

Nick
 
After looking at the picture Unclenick posted, are you sure you haven't lost the rear sight elevator?
 
Many thanks for your replies. The rear sight is complete, the original front sight does fit in a dovetail, this replacement sight has been positioned on top of it. I see traces of a dark brown substance that
looks more like dried glue or epoxy, not greyish-silver like solder, I figured given the low recoil of the
.22LR a previous glued on a sight more to his/her liking. I will let you know how it turns out.
 
It sounds like maybe it was allowed to bang against something and damage the original front sight and this was the substitute. You might looke at the Winchester Collectors Association site forum and see if someone there knows a source for an original? A hot air gun or a little light brushing back-and-forth with a propane torch will soften epoxy. Just don't overdo it. You can buy a product called Attack, made by Huges Associates in Minnesota. It is sold by jewelry making suppliers. Pure methylene chloride and will actually dissolve epoxy that is soaked in it. Paint strippers that say they are for epoxy paints will, too. That should get rid of the last of it before you get a replacement.

Nick
 
Was able to remove the substitute front sight from my Winchester M-77 with no problem. Clamped the barrel in a well padded vise, tapped out the sight blade, saw the screw underneath, removed it, the ramp came off with
hand pressure, not even glued on. The screw socket was in what looked like
a manufactured plastic or resin piece in the dovetail, tapped it out, cleaned it
up, awaiting a replacement front sigh from GPC. Many thanks for all the responses.
 
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