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Old June 10, 2017, 08:42 PM   #1
TruthTellers
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Raising a Fixed Front Sight on SAA?

I have a SAA clone in .32. The gun shoots about 6 inches high at 15 yards, which is excessive to me. To get it closer to the POI, I have to raise the front sight or file down the rear sight, which I am not going to do.

I'm trying to think of ways to add material to the top of the front blade sight and so far I'm coming up with two options:

1. Find some black plastic, form it to the contour of the front sight, and glue it on. Then, file down to the desired height to get POA to the POI.

2. Drill and tap a very small hole on the .062" wide sight and run a screw/bolt into the hole, loctite it in place, and file down to desired height.

What ideas do you folks have that might be better?
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Old June 10, 2017, 09:35 PM   #2
mulespurs
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what i would do

I would solder on a piece of brass.
You can buy small sticks of it at Ace hw or similar places. Just soft solder will do fine, just flux it first and use a propane or similar torch with a small flame. If you can rig up some type of small clamp or fixture, like a clothes pin to hold the two pieces it will make the job much more simple. You can of course use a piece of 1/8" or similar steel keystock if that is better for you. If you can make a couple of practice pieces first just to build your confidence that would be good.
Just file down gently as needed after adding your peice and you will be golden and have the satisfaction of doing it your self.
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Old June 10, 2017, 09:59 PM   #3
Scorch
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Front sights on SAAs are silver soldered into a groove cut in the top of the barrel. Just replace it.
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Old June 10, 2017, 10:42 PM   #4
James K
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Front sights are often not silver soldered, but simply put in as a press fit. But if you do decide to replace the sight and silver solder the new one in, make sure to use some kind of heat protection or else the heat will remove the bluing and possibly burn the inside of the barrel, including the rifling, as well.

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Old June 11, 2017, 01:10 AM   #5
tangolima
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I added front sight height with 3 different techniques.

1. Drill a small hole on top of sight blade. Solder in a small section of thin brass rod. File down the rod if needed.

2. Hacksaw a shallow slot across the sight blade. Solder a small piece of brass flat into the slot. File the brass in triangular shape with its point at the required height.

3. Degrease the sight blade. Prepare a blob of jb weld steel putty. Put it on the sight blade and shape it to flow with the blade. When it fully cures, file it to shape and height. Oil it slightly to blend with metal.

They all work well. And they are reversible to different degree.

-TL
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Old June 11, 2017, 02:21 AM   #6
TruthTellers
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I'm not going to put a flame to this gun. Everything else besides the front sight is perfect, I don't want to damage it in any way.

Can JB Weld be painted or colored in some way? Current finish is a matte black.
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Old June 11, 2017, 02:32 AM   #7
tangolima
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You don't need flame to solder. I used solder iron. You can also glue it with epoxy.

I believe jb weld steel putty can be painted.

-TL
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Old June 11, 2017, 12:27 PM   #8
T. O'Heir
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"...have a SAA clone..." Which one will matter. You may be able to get a replacement sight blade or you can change your load to shoot lower.
6" high at 15 yards isn't a great deal. Won't take much of any solution to lower that little. Probably best to play with the load before spending any money.
JB Weld is just epoxy with metal in it instead of fibreglass powder. It's also usually grey. Hard to do anything but make it black, but acrylic paint or dry water colour paint works. Regular epoxy dries clear and is way easier to colour.
A 1/16" drill is .062" diameter. A #53 is .0595" diameter. Being that small, both snap easily and make dandy front sight beads. Might even be the right height. I'd silver solder a wee piece on using a soldering iron. Bluing has to come off the existing sight blade first. Easier to buy a new sight though.
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Old June 11, 2017, 01:21 PM   #9
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Yeah, I forgot I could send the gun to the factory and have them replace the sight. It's a Heritage revolver.
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