I have lost the use of a buddies milling machine and need to cut a 3/8 dove tail for front sight.
wll have to do it by hand. have not done this befor-by hand-,
and am looking for suggestions,advise,tricks,etc.
thank you for your help-----

Capt Parker-

File a notch .093 deep making sure to keep the bottom level with the action and sqare with the barrel. Fore and aft the dovetail notch should be finished width minus about .010.

Grind one side of a three corner file safe. Lay the safe edge flat on the bottom of the notch and cut to the front and back.

The initial notch is the hard part. If you can make it *right* the rest is pretty easy.

Grind the teeth from a straight triangluar file on one side, OR buy a Brownell's sight dovetail file. You can remove most of the stock from the dovetail area with a fine-cut hacksaw, cutting straight down to about 75% of the finished depth, then remove the rest while filing the corners of the dovetail with the file. i prefer the Brownell's file over one I ground myself.

[ 04-26-2003, 19:13: Message edited by: eldeguello ]