M1917 Rear Sight

[mna89]

The rear sight on this 1917 barreled action has a notch that prevents the slide from going fully up the ladder.

I've never seen this before and was wondering the reason for this.

Information

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[browningautorifle]

Welcome to the forum, you'd have to ask the person that added that I think. Someone's personal idea.

Hard to see too. You should have used a more neutral back ground to take your pic...light behind you...

[us019255]

I did a quick photoshop on the pic. the result was not great art, but it does appear to be a stop attached to the ladder of the site. Hope original poster will post better photo perhaps also from other side of site.
<a href="http://s250.photobucket.com/user/us019255/media/M1917/1917site_zpsna9alqui.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg274/us019255/M1917/1917site_zpsna9alqui.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 1917site_zpsna9alqui.jpg"/></a>

[mna89]

Thank you for brightening the image. I will post better photos. The notch is attached to or part of the ladder.

[Patrick Chadwick]

I have, unfortunately, seen all too many backsights like this in Germany. A couple of decades ago, some bureaucratic geniuses with the all-too-common detachment from reality of those who formulate gun control laws, created the "Kriegswaffenkontrollgesetz". One of the requirements was that bayonet bosses had to be removed and sights had to be limited to a maximum range of 300 meters.

Maybe the unsung heroes who though this up imagined that there would otherwise be armies of loonies taking potshots at, say, 1500 yards, and then charging the rest of the way with fixed bayonets. This led to large numbers of Lee Enfields and Garands with ground-off bayonet bosses (which, on a MK4, means that the barrel is FUBARed for collectors). And sights limited by a welding spot. Garands were also limited to take only 5-round clips. These idiotic requirements have now been deleted.

So the gun is perhaps an import from Germany. Either buy a new backsight or (my tightwad solution) spend a creative evening with a diamond file and file the blasted thing off! Fortunately, it appears that many gunsmiths didn't like spoiling the weapons either, so the spot is often made so that a fully functioning sight can be recovered.

[browningautorifle]

seen all too many backsights like this in Germany

I forgot about those restrictions. We don't see too many here...

[Flying10uk]

One of the requirements was that bayonet bosses had to be removed

Did they apply this regulation to deactivated weapons, remove bayonet bosses, in Germany? Because logically if someone intended to "misbehave" with a bayonet it is immaterial whether or not it is attached to a deac, surely?

[Calif-Steve]

New leaf sights are very common in the USA. Good luck.

[RC20]

And I say keep it!

You can get another ladder if you want, its a piece of history and something that few have.

Worth hanging onto.

[RC20]

As I tell my wife, don't try to interject logic into it.