I have a Ruger MKII in 338WM which is a stock factory gun with 24" barrel. previous owner had a front sight either soldered on or srewed or both nevertheless it came off. It appears the screw hole went into the bore. The gun is very accurate so the hole dosen't bother me

I would like to install a NECG front barrel sight band to cover the hole and to reinstall a front sight.

The barrel mikes at .630 at the muzzle and .640 around the hole. Necg has two band sights one at .610 and the next .650

Which would be the easiest to install? Heating up the .610 or opening it up by milling or soldering the larger.650?

Any suggestions are welcomed

I would open the .610 up on the lathe.
Butch

Another vote for 610. Open in up in a lathe.

-- Brian

You might want to look at the Scholarship rifle project...opening it up on the lathe looks a little scary, but is quite effective. "peening" works, but the "tail" will always tend to rise up above the barrel and the radius direcly under the bead just won't fit properly.

Align your compound with the taper of the barrel and feed the cutter using the compound. Bore it to within .005. Take an old piece of gun barrel, square and polish both ends. Bore it to clear the barrel. Slip it over the muzzle, against the sight and drive the sight into position. Pretty simple.

I found that NECG makes a banded frt sight with the proper diameter of .630, now should it be glued or soldered?

I would recommend buying the next size down so you can fit it correctly. The .630 sight might be too much. Solder or glue? Traditional way is solder, but, this is 2009 and there are some pretty tough products out there that are tremendous at bonding banded items without the need for heat. If you are contemplating something other than solder, then I would recommend something tough like Loctite 272. Do a search here for some info.