Any advice on where to find an early Round Colt rear sight?

[cplstevennorton]

I'm in need of an early Colt 1911 round rear sight. Like the ones used up till serial number 60,000 or so. I've listed a WTB ad here on jouster, and Sturmgewehr, for a while now with no luck. And I can't find any on gunbroker, or auction arms.

Even searching on google, I can't find anything on them. Nothing. And gunshows aren't in my area until at least the fall, and I would doubt many people would have that part.

Any contacts, or ideas on where I could find one? They are hard to find, and I'm at a dead end.

Thanks!

[Jim K]

If you are concerned with authenticity, take a bit of care. I once knew a guy who made those up from the WWII type. Not hard to do and worthwhile money-wise, even then.

Thought: I wonder what USFA is using on their "1910" copies?

Jim

[smokey]

cplsteve, as you know the 1911 sight had a "u"notch,while the 1911A1s have a squared bottom notch. Additionally, the actual channel forward of the rear notch have some different shapes. You could round the profile of a "A1" and carefully round out the bottom to a "u" shape but, the sight channel would not be proper.A flat top WWI rear could be reworked to the round shape but I'm not sure if the channel would be correct. Good luck in finding the correct sight. They are as rare,or more rare,than the early fronts to find.Best regards, Nick

[cplstevennorton]

How much do they sell for when you do find them?

[smokey]

cplsteve,I look through parts boxes at gunshows when I can but I have not scored front or rear sights of the early types.I know a fellow,in passing, who has a plastic parts box with several early and later style 1911 front sights and a few rears[I don't think he had a round top] he let me look at them but absolutely refused to let me buy ONE of each! So,as I said, lots of luck. If your pistol is nice enough you might try to have a sight made from bar stock.Over the years in several places[unfortunately not here in Lower Alabama]I was able to talk shop teachers, both High School and College into having a student or two make parts as part of their projects.Machine shops are usually cost prohibitive but,these days,they may be hurting for work. It's worth a try. Regards, Nick

[Johnny Peppers]

Colt used the U notch rear sight up into the 890,000 1911A1 serial number range, so your chances of finding one of these sight is way better than finding an original sight. The U notch could be modified to look more like the original sight, but the square notch sight would look nothing like the original regardless of what you do to it.
You may have to buy a slide to salvage a rear sight. Should you find one, get a gunsmith with a sight pusher to remove it from the slide.

[rhood]

Would something like this work?

An Original WWI Colt part



PM: Me for details