Gunsmithing Lever action front sight issue

[infamous-1]

So I have this older lever action that I got handed down to me and I finally got a chance to look it over. I noticed the front sight is twisted slightly... I figured you guys would have suggestions? should i see if I can get replacement fiber optic types? or is there a way to straighten it out?

 

[The Mechanic]

Re: Lever action front sight issue

Looks like the dovetail was cut crooked. You could try and straighten it with an adjustable wrench but do you really need to? Looks like it will still function well even though it is bent. Gives the old lever gun some character

 

[infamous-1]

Re: Lever action front sight issue

I suppose so hey? Well I am taking it out to the range today to see if it really does affect anything. Thanks for the reply!

 

[TGagnon]

Re: Lever action front sight issue

It looks to me like this site isn't original to the rifle. It also looks like someone used the wrong sized dovetail on just made it work by peening the rear slot wall to tighten up the fit. A good gunsmith could fix this no problem but honestly for the money they would charge it wouldn't be worth it unless the site moves around in the slot. I would fix it be measuring each side of the sight dovetail to find the smaller side. Drive the sight out in the direction of the larger side. Then use a single bevel cold chisel with the angle ground to match the good side of the dovetail slot to reform the underside of the slot back to specs. Draw-file any metal pushed up into excess and then polish and reblue the entire barrel to match proper. Then get a new site and hand fit it to the dovetail. Take rifle with this setup to range and zero rifle. Make a index mark on the site and barrel to always be able to check for site drift after travel or dropping etc. Contour if desired or leave square but getting rid of extra material is always nice to keep it from snagging on clothing and gun bags. Don't forget to spot blue the edges of the site you file. Then oil all surfaces of site and dovetail before final assembly to keep them from rusting together. Did a few of these at my friends shop but for the price of doing this properly it really isn't worth doing it on most rifles out there. These instructions are all assuming it is an old enough rifle as to not have a standard dovetail size to make fitting a moot point. Sometimes there are things CNC can't solve and for these I say my prayers and enjoy my job.