I am working on my newest toy; a 416/404 Jeffery on a 1917 Remington action.

Project has been going well but I have run into a problem.

I would appreciate some suggestions.

I want to put a barrel band front sight on.

The closest match I could find was a Ruger No. 1 front sight. It tapers .745-.755; my barrel is .750 at the muzzle.

The sight will slide on about .25 before it stops.

The location I want to place the sight is .753, at the front of the sight and .766 at the rear of the sight.

This will but the front of the sight about a .25 from the muzzle.

Do you thing if I heated it up enough I could tap it on; it would need to expand at least .011 at the back and .008 at the front?

Shane

I don't recommending shrinking sight bands on. No way to straighten it out when you get it on crooked, and no way to solder it.
Best to lathe bore the ID of the band, or the OD of the barrel. I do both when fitting sight bands and I do a lot of them.
Send me the sight band and I will make it fit.

The best and simplest way to install a band ramp is to set it up in the three jaw chuck on your lathe, and then rebore the taper of the inside.

The band ramps I make and offer I leave .045" - .050" min of a wall thickness and that will support the ramp while taking light tapering skin cuts inside.

Insert the very tail of the ramp to the inside of the chuck, that way you will not CRUNCH the tail when boring the inside out.

The other thing I found is to not match the barrel taper, leave it shy.
If you have .005" taper per inch then set your compond at .004" taper per inch
This way when the tail flexs, and boy it will, the taper is undersize and then everything will flex when installed and you will not have a gap under the long tail section of the band ramp.

I normally bore the band out to the point the front of the band is flush with the muzzle and when installed it will be lock tighted and tapped back .200" from the muzzle face

JW

Just to follow up on Jim's method:

I always make the sight match the barrel. Both in diameter and taper to a slip on fit.
When I set the sight up in the 3 jaw or 4 jaw, I always cut an alignment pin out of a 1 x 4 inch piece of cold roll. I put it in the collet or 3 jaw with 2 inches hanging out and take a skim cut. Then I reverse it and cut the other 2 inches to a diameter which the sight will just nicely slide onto with no play. Then I grasp the large end in an ER collet in the tailstock and with the sight on the small end I run the sight on the pin into the 3 or 4 jaw and tighten everything down and then pull the tailstock and the pin away leaving the sight in the chuck. I find it's much easier to get the sight into the chuck that way with no lineal or axial error. Plus, if it has to go into the 4 jaw because of a wide ramp or small diameter tube. There is only minimal dialing in left to do.

Lots of ways to get the job done, I'm not one to over mechanize. I just straight bore the ramp until the band fits a bit over half way,,or a "little bit" for the scientific crowd.

Then drive the ramp onto the barrel with a mallet and now peen the band with a brass hammer. It will make a perfect fit and the tail of the ramp is nice and tight. A set screw with loc tite works fine, or can be soldered.....Yeah..I know, but these ramps have to be polished anyway

What Duane sez, but I always use solder, glass, glues etc. may melt with heat, heat can come from the metal during shooting or the hot noon day sun or a combination of both. I have seen glassed on sights come off in Tanzania, West Texas and Arizona.