Pietta '51 Colt Front Sight

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Hi,

I just bought a Pietta '51 Colt with no front sight.

The barrel does not have a slot for a traditional front sight ... just a little hole.....

The front sight barrel hole is about the size of a brass bead for a shotgun sight .... which I think I would actually prefer.

Any thoughts on a bead font sight, especially if it was brass or bronze?

[Professor Marvel]

Greetings WaddWatsonEllis -

You will find the correct Colt 1851 replacement "bead" here:

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1079

As the dixie photo shows, it is a miniscule piece of brass rod, with a tapered top, designed to be press fit into the hole in your barrel. Others will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the originals were threaded.

Now I am certainly known as frugal (cheap) but I am confident that most folks will consider $3.50 plus perhaps $7 S&H to be hiway robbery for a piece of 1/8 brass rod about 3/16 inch long....

If you are at all handy I am certain you can find the correct diameter brass rod (or even screw!) locally and file to fit.

While numerous individuals choose to add a "blade sight" to their 1851, much like the Walker and Dragon, since you will be using your 1851 in an historical context you might decide to keep the original "correct" sight in order to have fewer "anamolies" ... "anomolies" .... "differences" to have to explain.

yhs
Prof Marvel

[44caliberkid]

A real cheapo solution is take the barrel to the hardware store and look in the little boxes that have individual screws.  Find a small brass screw that threads into the hole.  It doesn't have to be perfect fit, just enough to get it started, when you get home you can force it in a few more turns with pliers.  Then file the sides of the screw flat.  Take the file to the range with you and you can take some off to dial in the elevation.  Put some masking tape on the barrel so you don't nick the finish when filing.
  I also made one from a dime once.  Used a hacksaw to cut off the upper third, but left a nub sticking down out of the middle, then screwed the nub into the hole, added a dab of solder.  Looked good.  I'll try to find a pic.

[44caliberkid]

Here it is.

[Major 2]

 To replace the short ones on guns that shoot high or to just replace a lost one
use correct Diameter brass brazing rod spun in a Cordless drill and a file to shape the cone, a dollip of JB Weld and it's in. 
It's about a 10 minute job.

[44caliberkid]

Don't worry about any sight you make not being "historically accurate" as the front sights on rifles and pistols were always subject to damage or loss and many antique guns I've seen have homemade sights.   Whatever you cobble up , some Bubba in the 19th century already beat you to it.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Professor Marvel, .44 Caliber Kid, Major 2,

Thank you all for your kind suggestions ...

As someone alluded, this pistol will be a holster queen and quite possibly never be shot by me .... For that I trust my Ruger Old Armys so much more.....

So I have time to cogitate on wether I am brave enough to try a home made remedy or wait an send  to a licensed Gunsmith for a nice shotgun style bead sight.....

[Professor Marvel]

WaddWatsonEllis -

Ah your rig is coming along very nicely! your slimjim holster will fit in perfectly and your Belduque is most excellent!

The bit of brass rod or screw, when filed to a cone, is incredibly easy to do, and will actually be more correct than a shotgun bead!
Or, you could in fact leave it off altogether (I cannot even see my Colt front bead after the first shot of black) and should any visitors question it, you can state quite honestly and accurately "them durn things seem to fall off all the time! doesn't affect the shootin' much" ...

In Fact, I would often come up with some such blarney or other to explain away a non-standard repair of "this or that tool" whilst
serving as a volunteer Blacksmith at a small historic "living Farm" in Minnesota.

I would occasionally get the usual gent who  loudly "knew everything better than you" - they were usually very pleasant fellows and  if you smiled and nodded and  let them pontificate to their group they all went away, no harm done but for a mere smidgin of unimportant misinformation getting spread.

The  rare jewels, however, were when some sly old gent would show up, listen to the spiel several times, and watch the work I was doing with an eagle eye! This sort would invariably wait until we were alone, and begin by making observations only one skilled in the trade could make! The next thing you know, he would be giving me pointers, advise, and trade secrets like a Master Blacksmith to his very own apprentice, (green hammer hack that I still am) and I would be hanging on his every word and occasionally interjecting specific questions regarding problems I was having with some current project or other....

Don't worry about any sight you make not being "historically accurate" as the front sights on rifles and pistols were always subject to damage or loss and many antique guns I've seen have homemade sights.   Whatever you cobble up , some Bubba in the 19th century already beat you to it.

Greetings 44K -

You are most correct sir! However, I have been following the posts of our good friend WaddWatsonEllis, on several of the subforums, since he  is going to considerable effort and no small personal expense to equip himself with Historic Accuracy in order to be a volunteer docent.

He desires to correctly portray a particular gentleman of the Sacremento area during the '49 Gold Rush era in a "living history" or museum-like endevour. In these instances it really is most efficacious to stick to full-fledged, no-questions-asked historical correctitude so as to achieve a more harmonious outcome when dealing with and educating the general public.

This is Especially true when a poor ordinary mortal volunteer docent runs up against a smart-a$$ such as myself who is blessed with the gift of gab and may be particularly well educated in some obscure form of minutae or another and who takes great delight in debating the finer points and counterpoints with anyone who is foolish enough to remain within possible earshot and appear not to be deaf or dead.

I applaud WaddWatsonEllis's efforts, patience, and fortitude in his quest to achieve Historically Correct Docentness!

yhs
Prof OverlyVerbose Marvel

[WaddWatsonEllis]

'AW, Garsh, Professor, you do go '... doing my best imitation of Noah Beery Sr ....

My father was a carreer officer, often stationed with his family overseas. As a child I had a front row seat to the Ugly American overseas ... Statements like:

'How much is this in real money?'

'What kind of a menu is this? There's no listing for hamburgers...'

I could go on and on .. but you get the gist ...

I promised myself that I would never make those kind of rude, uninterested, self centered mistakes ...

That when I did make a mistake, it would be obvious to locals that I was trying really hard ....

And I guess that it carries over to this docent training. With the State of California now having more  individuals with Spanish surnames than English, and a new sense of Hispanic Culture and History popping up everywhere, I want to be as accurate I can ...

[Noz]

Don't sweat the idea of a blade front sight being "incorrect" on an 1851 Navy. I have an original Colt Navy made in 1862 and it has the 1860 blade on it. I thought it was a "later" repair so I did a little research and discovered that Colt frequently used what was at hand when making a run of pistols. Many of the later 1851s had blade front sights.

[WaddWatsonEllis]

Noz,
Thanks for the insight ,,, everyone has a piece of the big puzzle .... *S*

[hellgate]

Here's what I did:


--Filed off the front sight (or lifted it out of the hole) and epoxied a cut off #4X3/4" brass flat head wood screw (upside down). This fix made a nice tall bead/post that a little cold bluing "ages" it nicely and it looks good if you don't goop too much epoxy onto the barrel. Cut, size, & shape the "bead" before you glue it on.

[Pettifogger]

I thread the hole and use a .175 shotgun bead.  It's HUGE, but I can see it.  Then just take a diamond round file and make the rear sight a "U".