Another desporterization project

[Whitpusmc 0]

What size hole did you use for the peep sight? 
 

Does anyone know what the Military versions had for their peep sight hole? Mine is a Sporter that I have reconfigured to Military but I wonder if the sight was messed with as the peep sight hole is tiny and even in good light makes using it difficult. I can understand why the USMC occasionally turned it into a V. 

[ArtR 0]

I was able to get a piece of 16GA copper wire to just barely fit into my peep hole (after lightly sanding the burrs from cutting the wire), and that mics at .0508"

The opposite side of the peep hole is counter sunk.

I looked up the specs on my M1 Garand and M1A National Match peep sites, and the aperture hole on both are supposed to be .052"... the same piece of copper wire just fit into each of them

[Whitpusmc 0]

6 hours ago, ArtR said:

I was able to get a piece of 16GA copper wire to just barely fit into my peep hole (after lightly sanding the burrs from cutting the wire), and that mics at .0508"

The opposite side of the peep hole is counter sunk.

I looked up the specs on my M1 Garand and M1A National Match peep sites, and the aperture hole on both are supposed to be .052"... the same piece of copper wire just fit into each of them

Thank you!

 Whit 

[eb in oregon 0]

"I looked up the specs on my M1 Garand and M1A National Match peep sites, and the aperture hole on both are supposed to be .052"... the same piece of copper wire just fit into each of them."

An "in-between" number. As a "A Type" retired machinist, I despise "in-between" tooling. I want to know who comes up with those numbers.

[Whitpusmc 0]

2 hours ago, eb in oregon said:

"I looked up the specs on my M1 Garand and M1A National Match peep sites, and the aperture hole on both are supposed to be .052"... the same piece of copper wire just fit into each of them."

An "in-between" number. As a "A Type" retired machinist, I despise "in-between" tooling. I want to know who comes up with those numbers.

Well I used a .051” miked drill bit and it slides in easily with a small bit of play. My next drill bit miked at .054 and did not. So mine is either .052 or .053” why would a combat rifle have a national match sized peep hole? 

Why is .052” an “in between number?” 
Sorry for the dumb questions.

Whit

[eb in oregon 0]

12 hours ago, Whitpusmc said:

Well I used a .051” miked drill bit and it slides in easily with a small bit of play. My next drill bit miked at .054 and did not. So mine is either .052 or .053” why would a combat rifle have a national match sized peep hole? 

Why is .052” an “in between number?” 
Sorry for the dumb questions.

Whit

Actually it's not a dumb question, it's a number 55 drill bit which is .052 in diameter. I was just in a snit as it's not a fractional diameter and .052 is a tiny hole.

https://littlemachineshop.com/Reference/NumberDrillSize.php

[ArtR 0]

15 hours ago, eb in oregon said:

"I looked up the specs on my M1 Garand and M1A National Match peep sites, and the aperture hole on both are supposed to be .052"... the same piece of copper wire just fit into each of them."

An "in-between" number. As a "A Type" retired machinist, I despise "in-between" tooling. I want to know who comes up with those numbers.

There may have been someone out there also who determined what would be the best aperture opening, based upon some 'ocular' measurement. It is sort of interesting that the other NM 'size' aperture opening is .0595 or the 53 drill size.

[metrotps 0]

On 4/26/2021 at 8:40 AM, Brian Alpert said:

Has anyone ever figured out how to get the chrome plating off the guide and locking collars?

https://toolsspecialist.com/how-to-remove-chrome-plating/

[mmeridith 0]

Awesome work... 

[eb in oregon 0]

On 6/20/2021 at 5:18 PM, metrotps said:

https://toolsspecialist.com/how-to-remove-chrome-plating/

There is a fundamental difference between hard chrome and decorative chrome. While those processes you referred to may work on some decorative chrome the best way to have hard chrome removed is by de-plating. But why do so as hard chrome wears better and is longer lived than any steel as well as better to prevent rust and corrosion.

[metrotps 0]

Please don't misunderstand... I absolutely agree with you even though there are more modern coatings that may be better, but Brian Alpert asked the question.

[C P 0]

In answer to Whitpusmc's question I used a #45 drill bit, but since the original standard was a larger hole apparently, I think I'll size it up.

[Whitpusmc 0]

On 6/15/2021 at 8:43 AM, eb in oregon said:

Actually it's not a dumb question, it's a number 55 drill bit which is .052 in diameter. I was just in a snit as it's not a fractional diameter and .052 is a tiny hole.

https://littlemachineshop.com/Reference/NumberDrillSize.php

No worries I was just curious 

Whit

[C P 0]

So recently I decided to finally take my rifle out and do some test firing with it to see how it functions with some hand loads I made for it, as well as see if the dimensions on my rear sight were close enough to zero.  I'm pleased to say that the sight did it;s job pretty well in the context of lining up the shot properly.  I did however come across two glaring issues that I will need to address in the 3rd build.  The first problem is that I don't like the way the original rear sight aperture is designed, It's basically a wall with a little peep hole in the middle, effectively obscuring most of my peripheral vision.  I'll improve this with my own more low profile design, maybe something more like an M1 Gerand or AR-15 rear sight.

The second problem was in my own design, The leaf spring part of the sight didn't have enough pre bend and thusly didn't put enough down force on the sight ladder, which caused the sight to actually climb up the ladder during firing recoil.  I removed the sight and attempted to add more bend by hand, but unfortunately broke the sight.  Oh well, I still learned a lot from this sight and I have in mind some improvements for the next.    

[Dutch2 0]

Apparently some of the marines that used them in the South Pacific filed the sight and turned it into a V notch

[Joseph Scott 0]

From your picture, it looks like you hardened the sight but did not temper it to reduce the brittleness.

[C P 0]

So I finally got around to building a third sight, but for some reason this one went terribly!  No matter what I did I couldn't get the braze to take.  After repeated attempts of fluxing and heating the metal just started to crumble apart.  I can't figure out what went wrong, after the second one came together perfectly I thought I had the process down.  guess not.  Fortunately I did find a rear sight on Ebay and decided to buy it.  It sort of feels like admitting defeat, but now that I have the blue prints I guess I could try again sometime. 

[Dutch2 0]

Too bad that didn't work out, maybe try silver solder instead of brazing if you are brave enough to build another one.

Glad you found one on ebay,looks good now

 

[C P 0]

Picture wouldn't load the first time. 

Sight broke the same way as the second one, though for a different reason.  I may have figured out the problem I had with brazing, I may have been using a flux meant for aluminum soldering instead of proper brazing flux.

[flyer338 0]

A long time ago, when I was smarter than I am now, I thought brazing and soldering were pretty simple. I taught myself to use a cutting torch while making a set (of 40) rimfire silhouettes. I learned arc welding putting rebar on a Caterpillar tractor’s grousers to extend their life.

I  am truly grateful for the sharing of experience on this website, and it makes me appreciate how little I know.

[camstuff 0]

The rebar on the Caterpillar rippers is actually a great idea!  Thanks for sharing this. 

[C P 0]

You all probably noticed those scope mount drill holes on the top of the receiver in previous photos.  Any ideas for filling those in, short of hot work?  I was thinking plug screws ground off and peened flush then sanded with 500 grit or something.  I wonder if I could take it to a jeweler to restore the stamping too, hmm. 

[eb in oregon 0]

On 9/18/2021 at 6:50 PM, C P said:

You all probably noticed those scope mount drill holes on the top of the receiver in previous photos.  Any ideas for filling those in, short of hot work?  I was thinking plug screws ground off and peened flush then sanded with 500 grit or something.  I wonder if I could take it to a jeweler to restore the stamping too, hmm. 

Your best bet is to have those holes TIG welded up then search for stamps of the same font. Holes plugged with screws are "iffy" in my experience. Miltech in Kalifornia restored a 1903 for me that required welding and restamping. You could only tell in just the right light that there had been holes plugged. The re-stamping of the characters was stupendous. The only thing is that they won't just do the receiver, they want to do the entire rifle. But it never hurts to ask.

https://www.miltecharms.com/

[C P 0]

Thanks Eb!  this might be the way to go.