Iron Sights for a Sporterized Mosin-Nagant

The previous owner shortened the barrel and in the process lost the front sight.
He had also removed the rear sight and installed a scope on the left-over rail, scout style.

It was decided that iron sights would work better on a carbine/brush gun such as this and so we decided to find a good set of durable yet adjustable iron sights.

Here are the before photos.

One of the reasons we like iron sights is their reliability. This belief was driven home on the last outing when the recoil of the Mosin's 7.62 x 54mm cartridge sent the scope flying.

We found this used set of sights from a Remington 700 rifle. These sights have been used for years on the flagship of the Remington line and used on calibers as hefty as .375 H&H Magnum, .338 Lapua Magnum and the .458 Winchester Magnum....so they should work fine for our Russian rifle

The rear is adjustable for windage and elevation and the front is drift adjustable for windage (elevation too by getting a taller or shorter dovetailed insert).


The screw size is #6-48, which requires a drilled hole using a #31 drill bit, see the chart below

The #31 bit is .1200" or just under 1/8" (.1250"). 

The #6 screw is about 9/64" or .1300", so we will be drilling a hole 1/100 of an inch smaller than the screw and using the tap to cut the threads to the major diameter of the screw.


Before drilling and tapping for the rear sight, we needed to machine it flat. I enlisted the help of my machinist friend. it was paramount that we get the bottom flat and square.

before drilling, we thought we might check to see if our platform for the rear sight is level, it was pretty close, or so we thought

We started with the front sight, we marked the 1st hole and center drilled it

we then drilled and tapped the second hole

Then things fell apart, after installing the front sight we noticed that we had drilled the second hole off center

This obviously wont work. So we'll have to fix the boo boo and start over.

I made a trip to my local nut & bolt vendor and bought some #6 plug screws

Then filed them down flush

Off to the machine shop...... we found the rear sight platform was not perfectly level

So some material was shaved off and then the holes were drilled and tapped

The front holes, this time we got them straight and true

Some red thread locker was added and the screws snugged tight

I then installed the front sight post and rear elevator sight

I then broke out the camo paint, starting with the khaki. 

When painting the sights, I knew I would get over spray on the stock on the rest of the barrel, so I attempted to match the existing camo paint job

I used a cedar branch/leaf I shaded in some olive drab green

 and then dirt brown

The last step was to polish the brass bead front sight with 600 grit sandpaper and paint the rear sights triangle white

In this before and after comparison you can see the camo paint matched the original paint job pretty well

On to the next project

Gun Art? # 3

The gun in the picture below, a .22 snub-nosed pistol, is similar to the one which Valerie Solanas used to shoot Andy Warhol in 1968. The incident heightened Warhol's preoccupation with death in his art, resulting in this piece entitled: Gun

A Tommy gun made from borosilicate glass

Sources

Artfund

Mickelsen Studios 

Lil' Buckeroo Project part 5

The final post for this build, if you missed the other click on the links below:

Part One: introduction and the search for parts
Part Two: The stock
Part Three: The barreled action
Part Four: The Bolts


Final Assembly starts with the feed throat sleeve, I use the bolt to get it inserted.

After fully seating, it is a plastic/bakelite type material that is a dark brown color.

The screw on the bottom secures the feed throat in place

The front sight is installed

As is the rear sight

and elevator

The finishing touch is this Tasco 4 power x 15mm objective rimfire scope that came on a gun I bought a couple of years ago......it has been waiting for a home and now it has one.

The finished product:

 Before and After pictures:

Costs:

Rifle: $20.00 a yard sale find, it was missing the trigger guard, sight elevator and bolt, the butt plate was also broken

Incorrect Bolt: bought for $25, sold for $40 = +$15

Correct Bolt(s): $67.50 from an ebay seller and a second one for $35 from the gun show, total cost = $102.50

Trigger Guard: $1.00 (came with a spare stock I bought at the gun show)

Sight Elevator: $4.30 from Gun Parts Corp 

Butt Plate: $0, re-purposed from an earlier project

Scope: $0, came on a gun I purchased 

Spare parts (trigger, trigger guard, screws etc..) $1
(the cost of the broken trigger guard and screws was refunded and I paid $1 for the receiver piece that had the trigger, spring, pin and screw)


the products and tools used to perform the work I already had, so we won't include those


I sold the additional parts I had purchased in ebay for: $24.99

I also sold the extra bolt that I refurbished for: $99.99



Total cost: $153.80 
recouped investment from the parts sold: $164.98 

I came out ahead on this gun by $11.18, you can't beat that!


I was able to take the gun out and test fire it, the rifle fed and ejected the shells as designed and we have good solid primer strikes.

That puts a wrap on this project, time to look for another one