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Having a barrel made with iron sights. Where to start?
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I'm trying to make my first custom rifle and up until now its been going pretty smooth. My problem is on this rifle I would like a relatively light barrel with iron sights(thinking Express Sights)and I'm not sure where to start, any suggestions?
 
Posts: 2 | Registered: 20 June 2010Reply With Quote
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Picture of Mike_Dettorre
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Well many of the issues are going to revolve around what caliber and how and where you plan to place the sights...

Your choices are of course solder or screw or dovetail.

If you are trying to keep the barrel diameter down you are probably limited to solder and/or screws.

It might help if the folks knew whether your a re building a 375HH or 7x57.


Mike

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.



What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
 
Posts: 10134 | Location: Loving retirement in Boise, ID | Registered: 16 December 2003Reply With Quote
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Several ways that you can do it. You can mess up and have your gunsmith bail you out[thanks Mr. Kobe]. I would chamber the barrel and install it, then check this link to Brownells http://www.wonderhowto.com/how...r-rifle-267108/view/
Butch
 
Posts: 8964 | Location: Poetry, Texas | Registered: 28 November 2004Reply With Quote
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Picture of Alberta Canuck
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I guess I would start by deciding on the basic barrel contour I want? Next I'd decide whether I want a "boss" left on the barrel for the front sight, the rear sight, or both?

Somewhere in the process, I'd ask myself if a "barrel band" sight base for front, rear or both sights would be appropriate? Barrel bands, like ramp or rib sight bases can be fixed in place by either screws, solder or possibly, epoxy. How about a 1/4 rib instead? I don't like 1/4 ribs, but most folks seem to prefer them. And on customs, they give the gunsmith/artist some room to show his skills and taste in shaping them.

If I was going to have express type rear sights, I'd have to decide on how much they would be used and how often, to determine the number of leaves, and types of leaves. Personally, I'd likely choose a fixed first leaf, and a folding second leaf, and no more than two...one fixed and one folding. Otherwise inevitably some day you find the wrong leaf up when you go to shoot. I'd seriously consider having only one, fixed, leaf, and file it to shoot dead on at 150 yards. With the cartridges of today that will kill anything you ever want to shoot out to 225 yards by holding dead on. For longer, just hold upper shoulder height on the animal. No danger of "wrong" leaves with that arrangement.

Then there's the shape of the leaves...flat topped? V-topped? U-topped? Again personally I'd prefer an almost flat-topped, very, very shallow V the whole width of the sight leaves.

For front sight, you have to decide on either a bead or a flat-topped sight. Is either going to angled forward or back, or straight up? If a bead, is it going to be round-faced, or flat-faced?

My own preference is the same as Pondoro Taylor's was...a flat faced bead angled slightly forward to catch any light in the woods/bush. But to each his own.

I also agree with him that bigger beads are better than small ones, everything considered...especially if the rifle is ever possibly going to be used on dangerous game. You DO want to be able to catch that bead instantly in your vision in bad light especially if the animal is close when you first see it. Up close there is no way a big bead will cover too much animal, and there is no way a small bead will be as easily seen.

And then, of course, there is the question of what colour bead you want to use.....


My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still.

 
Posts: 9685 | Location: Cave Creek 85331, USA | Registered: 17 August 2001Reply With Quote
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Firstly thanks for your help. Secondly I'm thinking a shollow V and gold bead on the front sight. Also I plan on using these pretty often I'm going to have this rifle chambered in 6.5X55 Swede which seems to make a great all around caliber but the whole reason for these iron sights is that I often find myself hog hunting and 90 percent of my shots on a hog occur at 30 yards or less. So any suggestions for iron sights that would be more usefull for this kind of hunting than Express?
 
Posts: 2 | Registered: 20 June 2010Reply With Quote
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Check out New England Custom Gun. They have a website. Many nice open sight options. Pricey, but classy.
 
Posts: 1135 | Location: corpus, TX | Registered: 02 June 2009Reply With Quote
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