#4 loose front sight assembly

[hotel71b]

Whole assembly has a .25 wiggle back and forth. The vertical guards remove with a screw but the clamp holding the blade sight has a pin. Suggestions to tighen this up?

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[jmoore]

"...the clamp holding the blade sight has a pin."

You've lost me here! ????

Are you referring to the front sight band/base/post itself? If it's loose, then a replacement part might be best. Unless the barrel has something amiss.

I suppose you could utilize some epoxy, but that just seems wrong!

Hmmm,is the base loose or just the sight itself?

[Thunderbox]

The sight base is usually drifted onto the barrel with a mallet and some grease - they are often so tight that the cross-pin is redundant. To get "wiggle" in the assembly, something must be fairly wrong with the barrel and/or sight base. Can you post some photos? Perhaps the sight base has been bored out for some unknown reason.

[vintage hunter]

Yep, epoxy will do the trick, but things might get a little squirrely at the end of a mad minute when it starts to melt. I once had a .30 carbine where the front sight key had been lost and the sight glued on. Now I know who did it

[Peter Laidler]

Fairly common occurrence to Armourers handling No4's and 1's but definately NOT .25"........... that's a quarter of an inch. Are you sure? If it's about .025", do you want the official repair now? Clean up the outer surface of the sight lugs on the barrel and the corresponding area on the inside of the BLOCK, band, foresight. Now tin both areas with a film of soft solder. Press both together and insert the taper pin. Heat up with a blow torch until the solder melts and allow to cool. There solder forms a metal to metal bond and the barrel will never become hot enough to break or melt the solder. But, please, please, please..................., no epoxy. Promise me................... as being an old time real Armourer, I'm apt to break down in tears when I hear such words used in relation to No4's

.25 is a bit much to be described as 'wiggle room'. That's 'sausage down the high street' room!

[hotel71b]

Sorry, yes. .025, missed a 0. In response to jmoore it is the band underneath which the blade sight is on top of. In regards to removing the pin from the band, from the LT or RT side?

Fairly common occurrence to Armourers handling No4's and 1's but definately NOT .25"........... that's a quarter of an inch. Are you sure? If it's about .025", do you want the official repair now? Clean up the outer surface of the sight lugs on the barrel and the corresponding area on the inside of the BLOCK, band, foresight. Now tin both areas with a film of soft solder. Press both together and insert the taper pin. Heat up with a blow torch until the solder melts and allow to cool. There solder forms a metal to metal bond and the barrel will never become hot enough to break or melt the solder. But, please, please, please..................., no epoxy. Promise me................... as being an old time real Armourer, I'm apt to break down in tears when I hear such words used in relation to No4's

.25 is a bit much to be described as 'wiggle room'. That's 'sausage down the high street' room!

[Brian Dick]

Peter's advice also holds true for the Mk.5 Sten which also uses a No.4 front sight base and many are loose. I've done a bunch of them. I've got a 30 cal ammo can full of NOS No.4 front sight bases too if in need. I also have NOS pins for them. The pin drives out from left to right.

[RobD]

"In regards to removing the pin from the band, from the LT or RT side?"
"The pin drives out from left to right."

Am I correct in thinking that, when considering things which end up being in the midline, that one always works on Lee Enfields, (anything between MLM and L42A1), from the left hand side?

[Baal]

"In regards to removing the pin from the band, from the LT or RT side?"
"The pin drives out from left to right."

Am I correct in thinking that, when considering things which end up being in the midline, that one always works on Lee Enfields, (anything between MLM and L42A1), from the left hand side?

I'm pretty sure that's the case.

My AIA Enfield is right to left though. Dunno why they changed that from the real mccoy.

[Patrick Chadwick]

My AIA Enfield is right to left though. Dunno why they changed that from the real mccoy.

Maybe the guys who make the AIAs are all left handed shooters?

Seriously, although I would not claim it to be a rule, it is definitely a tendency, and can be observed, for instance in Mausers.
I think it comes about like this: hold the rifle in both hands, as if to shoot, or for the "Port arms" position. For most people, the left hand will be on the fore-end, and the right hand on the butt. So if you lay it down on a workbench for dismantling, the natural tendency will be to remove the bolt with the right hand and then lay it down with the muzzle at the left. So it is natural to arrange thing so that band screws, for instance, are inserted from the left. Checking out numbering is also easier if inspection marks and/or numbers on the bands are on the left.

Like I say, NOT a rule, just more common than the other way around. Maybe it's getting late and I've slipped a cog, so please chip in anyone who can be bothered to check their own rifles!

Patrick