Mauser Rear Sight

[Albayo]

I have a Brazilian Mauser that has a broken rear sight and I am trying to figure out how to remove it. It looks like it should be a simple matter, but I figure I should ask before I damage a piece of my collection.
Thanks
Al

Information

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[JerryB08]

Which part is broken? removing the leaf is easy. the base is soldered on as well.

[Patrick Chadwick]

As far as the soldered-on base is concerned, there isn't really anything to break, unless it has come unsoldered! In which case, you wouldn't be asking how to remove it. So I guess it's the backsight leaf assembly that is bust, or the leaf spring. To remove a broken leaf spring you have to remove the backsight leaf anyway, so here goes with removing the backsight leaf:

Take a close look at the pivot/axle of of the sight leaf. There ought to be a pin going right through. If so, you need a fine punch to drive it out. It can probably be driven out from left to right (looking forwards along the barrel) but this is not guaranteed. If it seems unduly tight, just try driving it the other way. If you do not have a punch that is fine enough, the shank of a broken-off drill of appropriate size will do (but first smooth off the broken end). I keep the shanks of broken drills in a small tin for just such operations.
When the pin has been driven out (it may already be missing) you can see that the axis of the sight leaf is actually a short tube. This is permanently fixed to the sight leaf, and the whole assembly is actually sprung into position, the spring force being provided by the backsight leaf spring. The spring forces the axle tube ends up against two recesses in the sight base. So the trick to getting the backsight leaf out is to press down hard at the pivot point, to push the ends of the axle tube down below the recesses, and then push the assembly back towards the breech of the rifle, whereupon the whole assembly will pop out.

The trouble with this sort of operation is that it is very easy for something to slip and you end up with a gouged rifle, gouged fingers, or quite possibly both. You need one hand to push down on the backsight leaf, using a piece of hard wood or brass (not steel, that will mark the leaf!). You need the second hand to simultaneously lever a small thin screwdriver blade between the front end of the backsight base and the leaf, to force the leaf back towards the breech. And then you need the third and fourth hands to hold the rifle firmly while doing this. In other words, you need to clamp the rifle firmly in a padded vice before you start !!!

So 1) remove pin, if present, 2) clamp rifle in a padded vice, 3) push down hard on the backsight leaf at the pivot point 4) and simultaneously use a fine screwdriver to lever the leaf back towards the breech end of the rifle.

Do it like this and it will work. Take shortcuts and it could be painful!

Good luck!


Patrick

[Patrick Chadwick]

P.S: If you have removed the backsight leaf assembly, then the spring can be pushed out from the breech end. I.e. pushing towards the muzzle. Another operation where I seriously recommend clamping the rifle before you apply any force.
From my first post it should be clear that it is the spring that holds the backsight leaf in position. So if the spring is broken, the leaf will probably fall out. I suspect that is the reason for the through-pin mentioned at the start of the first post, as it would otherwise seem to be redundant.