M1 Carbine Rear Sight Issues

[JKL]

Bob--Thanks for the input, I checked it out on Ebay, and the tool looks like it would work fine. I guess my only concern in whether or not any sight pusher will be able to force my sight the last 1/16th of an inch or so that it needs to go. Do they really have that much more force than when I use a hammer and punch? How is your tool working out. I thought I saw a review on one of these tools (I thought at first it was this one at first) that it simply stripped the threads and didn't function well at all.....hopefully you had better luck with yours.

[USGI]

I haven't used mine on a really tight one yet, but I did use it to take the sight off of my Inland which had been installed with #271 (red) Loctite. I used a heat gun on it, and had the windage set all the way to the left first. The screw threads give you a lot of mechanical advantage similar to using a gear puller vs. a hammer - also there's no damaging shock as you would have from hammer blows. You can get a "feel" of what you're doing and can tell when the sight is actually moving. The tool has a Grade 8 allen cap screw that fits really well, but you do need to lube the threads - I used a drop of 90wt. gear oil on mine. I had a bit of trouble with the hole being slightly off-center in the end of the allen screw. Nick sent out a new one that was better, but still not perfect. I also had to deburr the end of the allen screw and lube it a bit where the brass insert turns. You need to take some care not to mark up the receiver with the tool. I used a bit of light card stock to protect it from the clamp. I also put some soft copper washers on the clamp bolts (between the halves of the clamps) to prevent them from tightening excessively on the receiver. I use a small square of shiny card stock between the brass piece and the sight so I don't have to clean the brass mark off the sight afterwards. Another good feature of the tool is that you can control precisely where you place the sight and get your sight centered so that you have equal windage adjustment in both directions. Only .006" sidewards movement equals approx. 1" on your target at 100 yds. I think the allen screw has 14 threads per inch, so it willl move the sight about .071" for every turn of the screw. If you feel the sight is too tight, I would file the sight base down a little bit. Good luck with it. - Bob

[JKL]

Bob--Thanks for the update...very good info, exactly what I was looking for. Makes me think that the tool is the way to go....JKL

[JKL]

At long last, I'm close to resolving this sight issue. Finally ordered and received the rear sight installation tool. It worked very well, although there was some prep work needed to lube and work the threads of the allen screw so the tool would work properly. I have been able to move the sight over to the left (it is now pretty much centered), and it seems to have a very snug fit. I am worried that continued firing will cause the sight to drift back to the right side, and I am thinking of using something like (blue) loctite to help lock it down. There are two stake "holes" on the right side of the dovetail, and I thought a dab of some type of adhesive in each hole would fix the problem. The loctite dries a blueish color (I believe) and I don't know how that would look. Any other suggestions about an appropriate adhesive product to use in this spot? Thanks for any input you may have. JKL

[painter777]

Crazy as it sounds....... Try a drip of Super Glue........... You'd be surprised how well it works, provided you clean off the oil.
Try spray cleaning first to De-oil, dry and then a drop of SUPER GLUE in each corner. Dries clear and can't be seen. Re-oilng after, seems to have no effect on the glue.

HTH,
Charlie

[JKL]

Charlie--Thanks for the tip...I was thinking of super glue, and it sounds like it would do the job--good point about removing any oil first. Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to "reverse" this procedure if I needed to do something with the sight in the future? Is the super glue similar to (blue) or (red) loctite--in other words just how permanent do you think it would be? JKL

[painter777]

On metal, I wouldn't worry about it. I've used it quite a few times on Bow sight pins as a thread lock, etc.
Now if it was a glued repair on wood, you'd end up splitting the wood somewhere near the glued area.

Charlie-painter777

[USGI]

About 6 years ago I got an Inland with a loose Type 2 rear sight - so loose you could move it with your fingers. I had read about peening, but instead cleaned underneath the base with 'brake parts cleaner' and then used #290 loctite on it. The #290 is designed to be applied to threaded parts after assembly. After cleaning, I let the loctite 'wick in' around the dovetail and then wiped off the excess - it didn't show at all. After curing overnight, I've probably shot 500 rounds through it and it never came loose. This past winter I decided to take off the sight to do some work on it, so bought a tool like yours. I heated the parts up first with a heat gun and the sight came loose with moderate force on the allen wrench. I posted somewhere above that I'd used #271 'high strength' loctite, but after checking old notes found that it was #290. I had forgotten that, and this last time did use the #271, so don't know if I'll ever get it off again short of heating it up with a torch!
- Bob

[DaveHH]

Regarding using a file: One of the biggest issues with these carbines was burrs from the manufacture of the part. They are mentioned often as part of the process in manufacture. If I have a situation where a burr is making any assembly a difficult problem, I wouldn't hesitate to get in there and remove the burrs. My Winchester had a badly distorted extractor shelf and plunger from either poor assembly or a defective part. Since this carbine is thought to be original, changing the part was out of the question. I was able to dress the problem areas of the two parts with stone and small file and now both are back in service. I would think that filing a tad off of a sight base is infinitely better than cracking a receiver because of poor tolerances.

[JKL]

Thanks to all for some great information. I went to the range yesterday, and although I only fired 30 or so rounds, the sight did not seem to move at all, and has remained centered where I pushed it with the tool the other day. At this point, I think I will just leave it well enough alone, and see if it is tight enough to stay put by itself. Right now I know I would have to use the tool to force it off, and I don't really want to do that. If it does start to drift off after continued use, then I will take it off and consider some filing and gluing as you guys mentioned. At least I now feel comfortable that I do have some options should I need to use them. Thanks again for all the support....JKL