72 Open Top Project **Finished**

[ShotgunDave]

Dave,
WAIT....STOP...DON'T!!!!!
oops. Too late. Nevermind.

That's the funniest thing I've seen in days! 

[ShotgunDave]

Okay Fellas, here's what I did.


I drilled a 1/8" hole in the barrel. (Not all the way through of course)






Then I soldered a 1/8" brass rod in the hole.






I then cut the rod down to size.






The really fun part came next. Fabricating and fitting a new sight blade to the post. It wasn't too bad actually.






Once that was done, I soldered it on to the post, and did the finial fit and finish.





I polished the brass up good, and it looks real nice. But I think I'm going to blacken it instead. It kinda sticks out like a sore thumb to me. But all in all, I'm happy with the result.

[Captainkirk]

I dunno...barrel looks too short. But maybe it's just me...?

[ShotgunDave]

It feels just perfect Capt. Like I said, very lively now. Besides, even if it is too short, it's waaaaay too late now! 

[sourdough]

I dunno...barrel looks too short. But maybe it's just me...?

I agree, but it is Dave's gun, and he likes it.

The new sight needs to be blackened, Dave, IMO.

Jim

[mazo kid]

As for soldering the front sight in place....I really don't see the need to silver solder it. There is a silver-bearing low temp solder available (Stay-Silv or something like that), makes a strong joint. Heck, I could even send you a couple of inches of the stuff if you want. Even regular solder would work. If you silver soldered the sight on,  you might need to re-blue the barrel as it takes something like 1200-1400 degrees for silver soldering IIRC.

[mazo kid]

Guess I didn't read the post all the way to the end before I replied. Looks like you did just fine. I made a couple of rifle sights using a copper blade set in a home-made steel dovetail base. Plain soldered the blades in place, no problem.

[Gray Fox]

If it were me I would use Birchwood Casey Brass Black to blacken the new sight, then use range time to get it filed to POI with your chosen load.  I'd then blacken the top of the filed sight again.  Finally, I would make a light file pass or two on the top of the rear surface of the sight blade to provide the effect of a brass bead in your sight picture.  Of  course, you may prefer an all black sight.  Just a few thoughts, Gray Fox

[ShotgunDave]

Thanks for all the insight Fellas. I appreciate it.

Mazo, you are right, plain ol' solder works just fine, and that's what I used. I should probably stop saying "silver solder" because it's not. I used 60/40 solder and a little liquid flux. I've soldered on several front sights that way, as well as the buttons on the arbors I have corrected. Not a single one has fallen off.

Gray Fox, that is exactly what I have planned. I just need to get some BC Brass Black to do it. I'll report back once I have it done.

[AlaskanGuy]

Dave,
WAIT....STOP...DON'T!!!!!
oops. Too late. Nevermind.

LMAO

[mazo kid]

If you have some cold blue, there is no need to buy Brass Black. If I remember, the cold blue is pretty much the same stuff as Brass Black. Another marketing ploy? I have used the cold blue and it does blacken brass, almost instantly. And you can touch it up if needed.

[ShotgunDave]

I thought the same thing Mazo. I used BC Perma Blue on the little touchup on the muzzle, so I tried it on the brass sight. It didn't do a thing. Maybe the other BC bluing products are different.